Living for Love
by Fangfairy
Summary: Dylan was created to be Max's other half. Fiorela  /Fee-or-la/  was designed to be Fang's. Itex decides Dylan and Fiorela haven't reached their purpose, and try to retire them. How far will Max and Fang go for the ones they love?  I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE
1. Chapter 1

A/N: If you're reading this, it means I actually came up with a good enough plot to post! Yay for me! This is my first Maximum Ride fanfic in a while, so I hope I haven't lost my 3 year obsession. Tell me what you think! By the way, Fiorela (Fee-or-la) is the newest addition to the family of my many O.C.'s. This story is in her perspective. This happens… after ANGEL, I guess. Fang left, but he never met any of the people in "Fang's gang". He has since rejoined the flock. Enjoy!

What would you do if you could change the world? Even if it was hard and painstaking, you would still try, right? But what if you were literally being forced to? What if you didn't have a choice? Would you still follow through? What if you were forced to fall in love with someone? Would you hate them for putting you in that position, or would you completely ignore all the things riding on it, like oh, I don't know, the entire future of the planet? These are the things any regular 14 year old _shouldn't_ have to think about. Unfortunately for me, I am not a normal teenager.

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Fiorela. I've got long, out of control, bright red hair. It's wavy and always tangled, like Max's, who is the leader of our little gang. She always made fun of me for having red hair, something to do with Fang. More on him later. I've got light blue eyes and long eyelashes and I'm about 5'8". The not-so-normal part? I've got 15 foot, grey and white wings.

Dylan, my brother, was created to be Max's perfect other half. Dylan was only called my brother because five months later, I was created in the same lab as Fang's perfect other half. Not that Fang wasn't sexy hot, but I didn't really like the idea of having to "seduce" him. Their words, not mine. So I told Dr. GH I would go do my thing, you know, seduce it up, but I'm pretty much just chilling out.

Fang and I had literally known each other since the day I was… born, I guess. He had left the flock and broken into the School to look for answers about the flock. He was found and captured, but he broke out. He was crawling in the air vents on his way to safety, when he saw me through a vent. He jumped in, ready to kick butt. Dr. GH explained to him that I was created to be his perfect other half, and some crap about how he was a distraction to Dylan's mission, so I had to be made for him. They handed me over to him, and told him to leave with me. And he did. Rather than dumping me in the middle of nowhere, as I would've, he taught me to fly and brought me to Max.

Relationship wise, Dylan and Max are exclusive. They used to argue a lot, when I first showed up, but now they're inseparable. It really bothers Fang, not that he would ever admit it to anyone. Max and Fang butt heads a lot, and don't really talk. Max is still really beat up about how Fang left, and was even more pissed off when he came back, bringing me with him. Hey, I would be too. Fang and I… I honestly don't really know. I guess we're together. We hug and kiss sometimes, and he puts his arm around me and stuff, but we aren't head over heels. I wouldn't mind it if we were, but Fang and Max have major history, and I don't know if he'll ever get over her. We're best friends, though. We tell each other almost everything, and I could probably write a very thorough documentary on him.

Anyways, I'm sure you're wondering who I am. Well, you know who I am, but you don't know _who_ I am. I've got pretty much the same abilities as Dylan, but a bit more advanced. I'm generation 81, the second-latest generation. Anyways, I have really acute senses, and I'm fast and really strong. Like, I've lifted pickup trucks before. Long story. I also have night vision, using the same treatment that made Iggy blind. That's pretty much all I'm good for.

"Knock knock." Gazzy said for millionth time in the past hour. We all groaned in unison. The eight of us were crammed into a minivan, driving from Detroit to Columbus. Why weren't we flying? I honestly don't know. Max was driving, and Dylan was sitting beside her, reading the map. I was crammed between Fang and Iggy in the middle bench, and Nudge, Gazzy and Angel sat in the back. Oh, and Total was sitting on Angel.

"Shut _up_, Gazzy. I'd rather hear the constipation song." Nudge whined. Gazzy smiled mischievously and took a deep breath. We all whipped around, our eyes wild and threatening.

"NO!" We all screamed at him. He held up his hands in the universal 'Whoa, Nelly'. We all relaxed back in our seats, silently praying that Gazzy would spare us.

"Next time we steal a car, get one with a DVD player, Max." Gazzy moaned. Max sighed, glaring at Gazzy quickly in the mirror.

"Yeah. Or _air conditioning_. Do you have something against non-crappy cars, or what?" Iggy said sardonically, leaning out the window to catch the breeze. His strawberry blonde hair whipped across his forehead like tongues of fire. The way the sunlight glistened in his hair and made his colourless eyes twinkle, he looked, ironically, the image of tranquillity.

"Max is trying her best, guys. Cut her some slack." Dylan defended her. Iggy rolled his pallid eyes, and Max tilted her head back, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off he shoulders.

"Thank you! Finally, someone freaking gets it!" Max heaved, fist-bumping Dylan, who puffed a laugh and pulled Max's head toward him. Luckily, this road was abandoned, because we swerved to the left about 8 feet. I braced myself against my seat, snapping my hands down and gripping Fang and Iggy's forearms in alarm. Almost right away, Max shot back up and regained control. Nice one, Dyl.

"Oops." Max muttered, grimacing and biting her lip. I looked around. Dylan looked like an idiot, as per usual. Fang looked bored, also normal. Iggy shared my expression, wide-eyed and stunned. Angel and Gaz were holding each other, and Nudge was spazzing out, talking a mile a minute.

"Do you think anyone would notice if I put her in the trunk?" I muttered to Fang. He shot me one of his killer smiles, the kind that makes me weak in the knees. Not that I would ever admit that to him.

"It's worth a shot." He muttered back. That was the thing about Fang. He said things with such a monotone, serious voice, you really had to listen to see if he was joking or not.

"Okay, at the next turnoff, head left." Dylan read off the map, tracing the roads with his finger. Max bit her lip, a nervous habit she had when she wasn't sure of what to do.

"Can I braid your hair, Fiorela?" Angel asked me. I turned around to look at her. She smiled sweetly at me, and I grinned back.

"Sure, Ange." I responded, turning back around. I felt light tugs on my hair as she brushed it with her fingers. I cringed a bit as she went over a huge tangle. She murmured an apology.

"What're you doing, Fang?" I leaned over and peered at his laptop screen. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, without moving his head away from the screen.

"Just bloggin'." He said absentmindedly, not looking up. I tried to lean over more to read what he had written, but Angel tugged me backwards.

"You techie, you." I smirked, nudging his arm. He flashed the quickest grin, and continued typing away. If he wasn't incredibly cool, he would be a nerd.

"All done, Fee!" Angel chirped. I ran my hand over the braid. Where did Angel learn to French braid? Obviously not from Me, Max or Nudge, who don't touch our hair unless completely necessary.

"Thanks, Ange." I said, reaching behind me and patting her knee. She grinned sweetly back. What a cute kid. Too bad she's a freak. Well, we all are, but she's like, the freaking _queen_.

"Dyl, where do I go after- oh, crap!" Max's facial expression changed from relaxed to panic in an instant. Max jerked the car swiftly to the right, going right off the road.

"What?" Fang demanded, lunging forward and gripping the headrest on Max's seat, so that his head was just beside hers. His jaw dropped slightly, but other than that his expression didn't change.

"Everyone out. Now. Split into twos and go. We'll meet at the hotel in Columbus if we get separated. Go!" Max cried, and we all leapt out the windows in an instant. I had no idea what was going on, but I guess that would have to wait.

A/N: So, did you like it? That was the first time I've written a Maximum Ride fanfiction in a while, so don't freak out at me if it's OOC or something. Comment, please! Chapter 2 will be posted later today, hopefully!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapter 2! I have nothing else to say, except I just wrote 2 chapters in 1 day. I'm so great. Feel free to worship at my feet. Naw, I don't roll like that.

I wanted to ask what was going on, but Fang had firmly grabbed me just above my elbow. He launched up into the sky, snapping out his midnight black wings. He flew faster than I had ever seen him go before, and this was while carrying me. I heard a high pitched beep, and Fang sharply tugged me toward him and wrapped his arms in an X across my back.

"Hold on!" He shouted over the ear piecing hum, which had grown much louder since I had first noticed it. A frantic undertone in Fang's voice told me this was serious. I clenched my eyes shut and wrapped my arms in a safety hold around Fang's waist.

A split second later, the loudest blast I had ever heard send us barrelling backwards, cartwheeling through the air. I held Fang tighter, knowing that both of us would die if I let go. If I screamed, I couldn't hear it. The heat was unbearable. I thought I felt us hit something solid, but it might have been my senses going crazy.

Fang unfurled his wings, and they caught the force of the blast, steadying us. He began beating them, so they would clear away the thick dust. I pressed my face into his chest as he flew us higher, until we were above the smoke. We panted heavily, our breaths falling in perfect time. I opened my eyes, looking straight into his. What I saw made me cry for the first time in forever.

His entire face was covered in ash and dirt. The whites of his eyes stood out against the dark brown and black. His hair was charred a bit at the tips, and caked with grime and filth. I drew a quick breath when I saw the deep gash on his cheek dripping blood. I guess we did hit something. But it wasn't any of those things that made me cry. It was the look on his face.

In all the time I had known Fang, so forever, I had never seen any significant emotion on his face. Maybe he would raise an eyebrow or grin or frown, but everything looked about the same. But not now. Now, he looked terrified. Absolutely terrified. I don't know if it was the huge explosion or how Max noticed it just in time or what, but he looked shocked and petrified. Out of every adjective in the world, I never thought either of those would be used to describe Fang. He was always so calm and collected, so when he looked like this, you knew it was bad.

"Oh, my God." I gasped, tears rolling down my cheeks. It was a weird feeling; I wasn't sobbing, just crying. We landed on an overhang and I let go of Fang, clearing some dirt off his face and hoping some of the uncharacteristic expression would come off too.

Fang still held me as I desperately tried to bring his face back to normal. I don't know why I thought I could wipe his expression off. I was freaking out, okay?

"Please, please don't look like that." I cried desperately, he moved one hand to my face, cupping it and using his thumb to dry my tears. He gave a very slight, weak smile, trying to tell me he was okay. He brushed his hand over my hair, which had miraculously stayed in the braid. Once I had mellowed out a bit, I asked, "What just happened?"

"Let's go find Max. I'll explain on the way." He squeezed my shoulder and ran off the edge, opening up his wings and flying up and out. I smiled and did the same. Note to self: next time you're faced with a near-death experience, go jump off a nice cliff. It soothes the emotions. Well, not if you didn't have wings, but whatever.

"Someone dropped a bomb on us. Max must've seen it hit the ground." Fang explained briefly. My eyebrows shot to my hairline.

"That means someone's tailing us." I said apprehensively. Fang nodded. "Bet it was Dr. Hans." We said at the same time. I don't know what's with that- the same thing happens with Max and Dylan.

"Ambuuuuush!" I familiar voice screamed from overhead. I looked up just in time to see Gazzy drop down on me, causing me to drop about 20 feet.

"Gaz? Where'd you go?" I heard Iggy call from up above me. I slowly flew up toward him and yanked down hard on his foot, causing him to freak out. I heard Gazzy's cheeky giggles, and even Fang laughed. Okay, he more so let out a breath really loud, but that was a laugh in the world of the Fang.

"So not fair, Fee." Iggy glared in my general direction. Wow. This flock does _a lot_ of glaring. We should probably go to some family councillor or something about that. Yeah, _that_ would go over well. Our rudeness is part of our dysfunctional charm. A few minutes later, we were flying in perfect formation, a giant bird-kid sandwich.

"Did Max take Angel?" I asked Fang, since during that whole ordeal I was being carried into the sky and couldn't really see.

"Yeah." He replied. Thank God. Can you imagine what kind of trouble Angel and Nudge would get in if they were left alone together? Nudge told me about the last time she and Angel were home alone. Angel bleached Nudge's hair.

"So we need to- Dylan!" I cried as I spotted Dylan and Nudge flying off in the distance. I pulled out of the formation and sped toward them.

"Fiorela! Dylan waved. I was beaming, but as I got closer I realized that something was wrong. Dylan looked more distressed than happy. My expression changed to quizzical.

"What's wrong?" I asked, slowing down to a walking pace. Nudge drifted closer, clutching her wrist and crinkling her face in pain.

"I let go of Dylan and got swept into a wall, or something. I'll be okay; I just need Iggy to help me put it back to normal." She forced a smile. I smoothed her hair back, which was knotted and filthy. Thank God we're going to a hotel with a shower.

"So, did you enjoy your first explosion?" Dylan asked in a mock-cheery voice, swinging his arm in a way that should be paired with the words 'gosh golly'.

"Oh, yeah. Good times." I gave a sarcastic smirk. "I wonder where Max is. I'm getting worried."

"I'll try to talk to Angel. She recognizes my voice right away." Gazzy said proudly. He's the cutest kid ever, isn't he? It's too bad his goal in life is to blow up a planet. A few minutes later, Gazzy spoke up again. "Max has Angel and they're on their way."

"Good. Oh, there they are!" Nudge pointed down, nose-diving towards them. I saw her take Angel's hand as they quickly flew back up to meet us.

"Oh, good. The gang's all here. To Columbus we go!" Max said, clearly wasting no time. I don't blame her. We looked like we lived underground, we were all so dirty. I couldn't wait to wash my hair.

"Lead on, McDuff!" Dylan smirked, pecking Max on the cheek. I saw Fang's jaw clench, and he casually looked away. I felt my heart sink. Why couldn't Fang care about me the same way he cares about Max? I shut that thought down immediately. I couldn't be so selfish.

After about 2 hours of flying, we touched down behind our hotel. We checked each other to make sure our wings weren't visible, and went inside. The staff looked at us funny, and I wondered why until I remembered we were all coated in grungy dirt. I laughed in spite of myself. We probably looked like freaks. Well, we kind of are, so…

"Hi, we booked rooms 721 and 722? Max and Dylan Martinez?" Max told the woman at the front desk, sounding very much like a business executive. Fang looked at the ground. For him, it was supposed to be Max and Nick. Just like he had told me it was before. The lady just blinked at us.

"Rooms 721 and 722 should be under Dylan and Max Martinez. I'm Dylan and this is Max. Is there a problem?" Dylan said, a little more firmly. The lady shook her head, snapping out of it.

"Oh, yes. Sorry. Ummm… yep. Here you are. Enjoy your stay." She plastered on a fake smile and handed us some room keys. Dylan muttered a thanks and, taking Max's hand, lead us all toward the elevator.

Okay, so picture 8 freakishly tall bird kids and a small dog all crammed in and elevator, looking like they just took a dirt bath. Now picture lame elevator music playing as they all stand around, shuffling their feet. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.

The elevator dinged, and we all rushed out of there at record breaking speed. 8 claustrophobic, mucky bird kids in a tiny elevator with the Gasman, self proclaimed King of the Farts? Uh, no thank you.

We rushed to our rooms, the boys in one, the girls in the other. We bulleted through showers, so everyone got a turn. About half an hour later, we were all squeaky clean and congregated in the guys' room.

Gazzy, Nudge and Angel were sprawled out on the floor, watching Cartoon Network. Iggy, Fang and Dylan were playing poker, those losers. Max and I were going over the plan for tomorrow, mostly because everyone else was busy. They were having fun, which doesn't happen that often, so we take what we can get.

"So we'll check out, and then what? We can't just wander aimlessly, right?" I asked. Max sighed and ran her hand through her now smooth and damp hair. We were sitting in the bedroom, where a glass door kept us separated from everyone else.

"I don't know. I was thinking Canada. No bad stuff ever happens there, right?" Max shrugged. I didn't feel like filling her in on all the kidnappings and law suits that had been happening lately. That would just make matters worse.

"I guess." I said, only half listening. I was actually looking over Max at Fang, who looked gorgeous as ever now that he was cleaned up. Fang looked up, and I instinctively shot my head down. I peered back up again, and realized he had actually been making cow eyes at Max.

"What?" Max said, looking back. Fang looked back down at his cards. I sighed, trying to keep myself from crying.

"He looks at you, you know." I told Max glumly, who raised her right eyebrow in confusion.

"Who?" She asked, trying to sound like she didn't care.

"Fang. I see him staring at you while I'm staring at him. He still loves you, Max." I informed her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then they crinkled together in the middle.

"But he's with you!" Max protested, not wanting to believe it. _Well, believe it, sister. He loves _you_, not me_. I thought.

"Because he has to be. Trust me, he likes me, but he loves you." I nodded gloomily. She looked kind of pissed off about that. I don't know if it was because Fang liked her, or because she didn't like him.

"Well, that's nice for him, then. We're never going to get back together, and he knows it. I _did_ love him, but not anymore. Not since he messed up so royally. So you can _have_ him." Max ranted, and I wondered who she was trying to convince- me or herself.

"I know he knows that. And I know he hurt you really badly. What he's feeling for you is the same as what I'm feeling for him. Like you're never going to have a full on, head over heels relationship. Like whatever you do, you'll never be good enough. I know it's not your fault, Max, but I just wish he could get some closure. You know? Like if you just told him upfront that you just don't feel the same?" I explained, majorly beating around the bush.

"That's the thing. I don't _want_ to have to tell him that. You know what? He gave me a promise ring. And even after he took off and _ripped my freaking heart out_, I still kept it. I have it with me all the time. I just don't want it to be like this. We used to be so in love, Fee. Why is it like we don't know each other now?" Max flopped down backwards on the bed.

"You don't know what it's like. I'm actually _programmed_ to not be able to resist Fang. You two could still be together, but I would still need him to be whole. You guys are the lucky halves. You were created feeling whole. I never do, unless I'm with Fang. Do you know how hard it is for me that he only feels whole around _you_? I'm not trying to be obnoxious, but please talk to him." I begged, mentally slapping myself for sounding so whiney.

"I'll try. Don't blame me if it doesn't work." Max sighed after a long pause. I collapsed into the desk chair.

"Thank you. You have no idea how important that is for me." I almost cried I was so happy. Finally, Fang would know for sure that he couldn't be with Max.

As selfish as that sounds, he kept beating himself up about it. I remember when he was teaching me to fly; we saw Max and Dylan holding hands and kissing up in a tree. He said he needed air, which was dumb because we were already outside. I followed him, and he was punching the crap out of a tree until his knuckles bled, swearing loudly. Then he just sat on the ground, staring into nowhere and absentmindedly folding leaves up into little squares. That was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him. He has no idea I saw him.

"Let's get this over with, then." Max groaned, opening the door and plastering on a fake smile. I casually walked past her and sat beside Iggy on the couch.

"Hey, Fang? Can you give me a hand in here?" Max called in a very chill voice. She was quite the actress. Or she was a liar. What's the difference?

"I'll help you-" Dylan started. I shot him a threatening glance. Getting the idea, he shut up.

"It's cool. I got it." Fang said in a very lax tone. I knew his heart was beating faster than usual and his palms were sweating. He had it bad. He got up and went into the bedroom/office. Max shut the door. Not that it mattered, since at least Iggy and I could hear what they were saying. Lets hear it for acute hearing, folks.

"We need to talk." Max told him. He hesitated for a second, and then I saw him nod. "Okay, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. I love you, Fang. I probably always will. But you screwed it up, and you know it. It hasn't been the same since you left. Things have been super freaking awkward. So let's just clear the air, okay?" Fang nodded again. "You say what you have to, and then I'll say what I have to, alright?"

"Okay. This freaking sucks. I can't believe how stupid I am. I should've told you before I left. I know that. And I know you felt like crap after, which is actually kind of flattering. But it wasn't easy on me, either. I cried, Max. I cried for the first time in my entire life. Imagine what it would be like if you left Dylan," He said Dylan as if it were the most disgusting thing in the world. "And you had no idea where he was or how he was doing. That's how hard it was on me." Well, Iggy and I were awestruck after that. Fang had never said that much in one go before, and the fact that he was talking about feelings made it that much more weird. Wait… he _cried_?

"He speaks!" Iggy muttered to me. I nodded slowly. Dylan, clearly getting a bit freaked out, got up and sat on the floor with Gazzy, Nudge and Angel. Nudge began rapidly explaining to him what had happened so far in whatever show they were watching.

"I know it was hard for you. Imagine if it had been reciprocal, if I had left you. Can you even contemplate how bad the freaking hurt? You had a choice in this, Fang. I didn't." Max hissed, evidently getting really pissed off. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all…

"I'm sorry, Max. If I could go back, I would. I know things can never be the same, but can we just try to put it behind us? Do it for my mental health." Fang pleaded. I had never seen him more desperate before. Clearly, neither had Iggy, whose eyebrows were cocked, as if he wasn't sure that was really Fang talking.

"Okay." They shook hands and hugged for a second. Fang looked like he never wanted to let go. "But just so we're clear, I'm in love with Dylan, and Fiorela is in love with you. Do with that what you will." Max said, walking toward the door like she owned it. Fang just sat there on the bed, staring at me. Instead of looking away like I normally do, I just stared back. Things are going to be a lot different.

A/N: That was the longest chapter I've ever written! It's six and about a third pages and 3005 words long! That's pretty good, judging by my other stories. Hopefully, chapter 3 will be done today. My goal is to do a chapter a day, but let's see how that goes. R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter 3! I have no idea where I'm going with this story. I'll just play it by ear, I guess. If you have any suggestions you want to see in the story, comment and I'll try to work them in.

Well, whatever mind game Max had played on Fang worked, because they were both acting a lot more friendlily towards each other. And bonus, Fang was acting more like a boyfriend than a brother with me. When he came back to the couch, he had sat down beside me and put his arm around me, making my nerves act up.

"Okay guys. There are eight of us and four beds, five if you count the pullout couch in the other room." Max announced shortly after her intervention with Fang. "Which means some of us will have to pair up or sleep on the floor."

"Angel and I can share a bed, since we're siblings." Gazzy put forward. Angel nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so who else wants to share a bed?" max asked. Nobody said anything. "Oookaay… I'm fine with sleeping on the floor if necessary. Anyone else?" Fang, Dylan and I raised our hands. "So Nudge, you get the couch and Iggy gets the smaller bed in 722. Gazzy and Angel, you get the bigger bed. Fang can take the smaller bed in here, and Dylan gets the bigger one. Fee and I can sleep on the floor."

"Sounds like a plan." I said, pulling my hair back in a sloppy bun on top of my head. We were all wearing pyjamas, and Iggy had his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. It was about 11:30, and Gazzy, Nudge and Angel looked exhausted.

"I'm going to bed. C'mon, Ange." Gazzy yawned, going out the door and across the hall, shortly followed by Angel.

"G'night." Max called after them. Nudge yawned and stretched, and she too went off to bed. That left Iggy, Max, Dylan, Fang and I.

"Okay, does someone want to explain why we got bombed earlier?" Dylan asked once Nudge was out of earshot. Iggy was sprawled out on the loveseat, tossing one of Total's tennis balls between his hands with expert precision. Max sat cross-legged on the floor beside Dylan, and Fang sat on the desk chair, me on his lap.

"Fang and I were talking about that. We think it was Hans." I provided. Everyone looked at us, begging for an explanation.

"Why do you think that?" Dylan asked, obviously interested. "I thought Hans died in that plane crash at the gen 77 hideout."

"He didn't. He was there when I met Fee." Fang said to Dylan, whose eyebrows shot up, along with Max's and Iggy's.

"And you're just mentioning this now?" Max said, infuriated. I shrugged, as if I were saying 'it never came up'.

"That's not important. The thing is that someone's following us, and we need to figure out who." Fang defended. The others nodded in agreement. "So we've got Hans. Any other ideas?"

"Maybe Jeb." Iggy said, sounding bored. "I mean, he hasn't done anything super evil in a while, but you never know."

"Right. Gen 77?" Dylan wondered, looking around to see if anyone would back him up. Max shrugged, putting it into consideration.

"We need to know for sure." Fang said as I readjusted on his lap. I was sitting sideways, my legs hanging over the side of the chair, and I rested my head into the crook of his neck. We fit so perfectly together, like a puzzle.

"I know, and we will. But we need to narrow it down first. Who else would want to kill us?" Max asked, more to herself than anyone else.

"Uh, everyone?" Iggy said cynically. Max shot him a glare, which didn't really matter, Iggy being blind and all.

"If you're so uninterested, why don't you leave?" Max suggested rhetorically. Iggy shot her the bird, which she thanked him for with a kick in the stomach. He seized up and dramatically rolled onto the floor. Max rolled her eyes as Iggy said stupid things such as 'I see the light!'

"Well, there's always Itex. Like the director and those random white coats and screw-ups. Other than that, I can't think of anyone else who might try to blow us up. Other than Iggy, of course." I noted. Iggy glared right at me, as if he could see me. It was actually really freaky.

"Okay, I have a solution. None of you are going to like it, but it's the only way to know who the real threat is." Dylan piped up, getting to his feet and leaning against the wall. We all looked at him in curiosity.

"What?" Max asked, getting to her feet and standing beside Dylan. He let out a slow, deep breath.

"The School. We have to go back to where it all started. I know, Dr. Hans told me. That's where all your answers are. Your families, your birth names… everything." Fang and Max shared a disbelieving glace. Even Iggy perked up, sitting up straight and looking toward Dylan.

"No. No way. Impossible. We searched the entire building. We hacked all their computer files. There isn't anything on us." Fang shook his head.

"How do you know it's on a computer? A highly secured filing cabinet in the subbasement. Hans showed me. Well, more like I followed him. He doesn't know I know." Dylan explained. All our eyes widened.

"What about-" I started; Dylan finished my sentence.

"Us? There's information about the kid I'm a clone of, I know that. I haven't been back since you were created, sorry." Dylan told me. Oh, right. Duh. Dylan is a year old, I'm only 7 months.

"Well, they must have stuff on me, then. I don't know if I was a clone or made in a test-tube or what." I said. Wow, I really didn't know what I was. Cool.

"My guess is an alien." Iggy muttered. I leaned over and slapped him upside the head. He really didn't know when to shut up.

"Okay, guys." Max said, taking a deep breath. "Here's what's going to happen. Dylan, Fang, Fiorela and I are going back to Death Valley. Iggy, I need you to watch the kids. I'm _not_ leaving Nudge in charge."

"It's cool. I don't want to go back there anyways." Iggy said agreeably.

"Okay. We'll leave as soon as possible so the kids can't talk me in to letting them come." Max sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "So go grab all your stuff and meet back here in 10, 'kay?"

Without a word, we split off in all directions, gathering up all the clothes, food and water we could. We crammed it all into our backpacks and met back at the window in record time. We went through everything we packed, making sure we didn't forget anything. Max gave Iggy a rundown of the rules, i.e. no bombs, and we went on our merry way.

"Okay, let's split into pairs. Me and Dylan, Fang and Fee. It'll be easier that way. There'll be less people to worry about. If we get lost, we meet back at the hotel, okay?" Max proposed, and we all nodded in agreement.

"Catch you later." Dylan said as they disappeared into the dark. Then it was me and Fang. He grinned at me, his white teeth standing out against the black sky. I smiled back, feeling nervous.

"We should go find a place to crash. Get some energy in case we need to kick some butt." Fang said, only half joking.

"Yeah, I could sleep." I agreed. Fang nodded once and zipped past me, stopping about ten feet away and giving me a challenging stare. Oh, so that's how he wanted it. Newsflash, Fang. I can get up to 200 miles per hour if I try.

I rocketed past him, stopping about fifteen feet away from him, then coming back and stopping inches from his face, which had a surprised expression. Well, not really, but his eyebrows went up a fraction of a centimetre, which was shock in Fang's book.

"Beat that." I whispered with a snarky smile, so close that our feathers brushed slightly on down strokes. I was close enough to kiss him, but I didn't have to.

He cupped my face in his hands and pressed his lips against mine. My eyes widened in alarm at first, and then I slowly closed them. His mouth on mine was like ecstasy, and I felt adrenaline explode in my veins. _Remember to flap_, I thought to myself. We had kissed once or twice before, but it was just a little peck, not like this. This had been going on for a good 20 seconds when we finally broke apart, gasping for air. I looked into his emotionless, dark eyes and smiled. He just looked right back at me, as if he could see through me. I'm guessing he was over Max.

"We should get going. We don't want Max and Dylan getting to the School before us." Fang said, shifting his focus from me to the sky. I just looked at him for a second, and then nodded slowly. We started off in a random direction, planning on sleeping where we can and finding Death Valley tomorrow.

After about half an hour, we found a small cave, about 200 or so feet from the ground. It wasn't exactly roomy, it was about 5 by 10 and the ceiling was low, but it would have to cut it. It was only one night, after all.

"You have some blankets, right?" I asked him as we got settled. He unzipped his bag and pulled out two throw blankets he jacked from the hotel. "My hero." I said sarcastically. Fang smiled.

"You heard, didn't you." Fang said, his face looking serious. He said it like a statement, not a question. "When I was talking to Max." He added.

"Oh. Yeah. Kind of. Please don't be mad." I said, worried that he would get royally pissed off.

"Thought so. Don't worry, I'm not mad. You just did half the work for me. Now I don't have to repeat myself." He said. What the heck was he on about?

"What do you mean?" I asked, thoroughly confused. He took a deep breath. He sat with his back against the cave wall, and I sat beside him.

"We have to talk." He said. Fang wanted to talk? Which planet was this? "I guess it's no secret to you that me and Max had something. And I guess you know I still… love her. But that doesn't mean I don't love you, too. How could I not? You're literally everything I could ever want in a girl. I guess those scientists really have me nailed." It may have just been the cruddy lighting, but I swear he blushed.

"Really?" I asked hopefully. He gave a slight nod. I smiled widely. He loved me. Fang loved me. My whole purpose in life had just been fulfilled. Take that Dylan. It only took me a few months. It took you a year. I win.

"Let's get some sleep." Fang recommended. I nodded, already feeling drowsy. I nestled down beside him, lying parallel so my cheek rested over his chest. I felt his hand softly sweep over my hair. I fell asleep to his heartbeat.

~x~

I woke up to the sound of helicopters. Oh, crap. I shot up and looked around. Fang and I were completely surrounded by gen 77 mutants. They all had guns. Oh, double crap.

"Fang?" I said shakily. He opened his eyes groggily and sat up.

"Mmph… what?" He said, rubbing his eyes. I reached down and grabbed his wrist. He looked around. His face went stone cold. We were caught.

Before we could start fighting, I felt a thick arm wrap around my neck, choking me. I was lifted up and carried towards the chopper, kicking and screaming. Fang quickly reached out and grabbed my arm, unwilling to let them take me. A gen 77 kid came up from behind him, loaded gun in hand. He pressed the pistol to the back of Fang's head.

"Let go of her." The kid said in a not quite human voice. I heard the gun click, ready for fire. This guy wasn't playing around. "Now."

"Fang!" I pleaded. He wouldn't let go. I was not about to let Fang die at my expense. He looked straight into my eyes. He wasn't going to let go. I quickly reached out and slapped his hand as hard as I could, making him recoil on instinct. The gen 77 people threw me painfully into the helicopter. I hit my head hard, and felt blood trickling down my face. The last thing I saw was Fang's furious face, screaming my name. I gave him a faint smile and salute, and let the darkness wash over me.

A/N: Ooh, a cliff-hanger. So intense, eh? Please post a review. I haven't gotten any yet. You should probably get on that… I kid. But seriously. REVIEW.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Seriously, guys. Where are you with all my reviews? I need to know if it's dumb or OOC so I can fix it. Whoever writes the first review gets a million dollars. Just kidding. As if I have that kind of money. I shall give you a flying pink uni-cat that farts rainbows and craps pop-tarts instead! Because we _all_ want one of those.

I woke up in a pitch black room, which was saying something since I have night vision. Oh, great. I was back at the School, wasn't I? Well, at least I beat the rest of them. Props to me. I wasn't exactly sure of what was going on, but I knew one thing for sure: Fang was going to kill me. You know, if I lived that long.

"What's the big idea?" I called. Everything was dark. If someone didn't get me out of there stat, I was going to go nutty.

"Subject 37456832." A robotic voice sounded, too loud for my sensitive ears. "Test number 582. Sanity in isolation." Oh, God. Were these freaks actually testing me to see how long I could last without losing it? How pathetic.

"Well, if nobody else is here, I guess I'm free to find the door." I announced loudly, hoping someone would hear. I had a plan. If _my_ night vision didn't work, any security camera wouldn't work either. Let's hope this works. "Oh, my God! I found it! The door! Now I can get out of here!"

Just as I had hoped, the door opened and white coats rushed in, trying to find me and stop me from escaping. Have you ever seen grown men stumbling around aimlessly in the dark? It's hilarious. I began tiptoeing toward the door, hoping they wouldn't see me. Suddenly, a pair of hands came out of nowhere and gripped my arms tightly. Crap.

"Nice try, kid." The white coat snarled. I shot him the dirtiest of dirty looks. There was no point in trying to escape again; they would see it coming. The only thing to do was to wait for Fang to come save me. "Come with us. Dr. Hans wants to see you."

"I don't want to see him." I said sassily. Hey, if I had to be tortured, I wasn't going to just let it happen.

"Let's go." The white coat spat angrily, lifting me up. Okay, who said I wanted to be lifted? Oh, yeah. _No one._

The white coat carried me out of isolation, which wasn't really well isolated since I was in there for about five minutes, and walked down the hall. Normally, I would have kicked his butt and escaped, but Dr. Hans might have some of the answers the flock was looking for.

"Fiorela." Dr. Hans said coolly from his fancy desk chair. The big monster of a white coat dropped me into the chair on the opposite side of his desk and- get this- he _chained_ me to it. How medieval can you get?

"It's been a while, Doctor." I said, trying to play it as cool as I could. _Just try your best,_ I thought to myself. _Fang's on his way._

"Yes, quite. I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, but I'm going to have to delay our little chat. We're expecting another guest. Oh, look. Here he is now." Hans said, pure evil weaved into his tone.

A white coat to get a boy about my age through the door, who was putting up quite the fight. He threw him into the chair beside me, and with much struggle, managed to strap him in. It wasn't until the boy looked up that I recognised him.

"Dylan? You too?" I asked quietly. He looked over at me, distress and anger distorting his face.

"What do you want with us, Hans?" Dylan spat. If he wasn't on my side, I would be terrified by the anger in his voice.

"Do calm yourself, boy. I just want to have a little chat. If you're good and you listen, I'll even let you go. Maybe." Hans grinned wickedly.

"Hurry it up. I've got a dinner date and I can't be late." I said sarcastically. Dr. Hans grunted. Who grunts? I mean, seriously.

"Then I won't keep you waiting any longer." Hans said eerily. What a creep. "We at Itex are frankly ashamed by the performance of you two. Dylan, I'll start with you. Your mission was to help Maximum Ride reproduce, creating a successor to her role as the world's saviour. Clearly, you have not done your job. Explain." Hans demanded.

"You may not get this, but Max is an actual _person_. What do you want me to do, go up to her and say 'Hey, some scientist says we need to have a baby together, so we kind of have to?' You know what that would do? Nothing. I might get a slap in the face or a kick to the crotch, but no baby will come of that. Max doesn't want to, so she's not going to. She can think for herself." Dylan clarified.

"It was your mission to _convince_ her to, Dylan. Evidently, you failed. Fiorela." Hans snarled, turning his attention to me. I raised an eyebrow in disinterest. "You had a similar mission. You were supposed to act as a distraction to Fang so that Dylan could complete his task. Also, you were expected to create a child as well, in the event that Dylan failed his mission. Why didn't you? Explain yourself." Hans commanded.

"You have got one sick mind, my friend. Do you honestly think Fang and I were going to do that? Uh, hello? I'm fourteen! I'm not supposed to be having kids. I'm supposed to be… actually, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. But it sure as God's green earth isn't reproduction. That's just nasty." I said, turning to Dylan. "Can you imagine that? Me and Fang having kids?" He made an as-if-that would-ever-happen face and shook his head.

"It is not your decision to make. You have been given you missions. Fiorela and Dylan, if you do not present me with two successors by this time next year, I will have no choice but to terminate you." Hans said in what I guess he thought was a dramatic tone. He just reminded me of the Terminator. Okay, this dude was really starting to tick me off.

"Oh, hell to the no!" I shouted in my best ghetto voice. Who the heck did this guy think he was? "Lookie here, pal. I'm not having any kids, comprende? Maybe one day ten years down the road, _maybe_. But not now. And I don't care what you threaten me with; I'm not letting you control me anymore." I exploded.

"You go, girl." I heard Dylan mutter from his seat. I couldn't help but give a little superiority smirk.

"Oh, and one more thing. These," I said, shaking the handcuffs. "can't hold us. I guess you shouldn't have given us super strength." I said with attitude. At the same time, Dylan and I snapped the locks like they were twigs and headed for the window.

Before Dr. Hans could even stand up, Dylan and I had crashed through the widow and were a good 40 feet away. Dr. Hans leaned out the broken window and shouted after us, "We'll come for you! You can't hide from us! You're through, you hear me? Through!"

"Ooh, I quaking in my Nikes!" I shouted sarcastically back.

"You sure told him." Dylan grinned supportively. I shrugged.

"My rude and obnoxiousness speaks for itself." I smirked. Dylan snorted a laugh.

" Okay, we need to go find Fang and Max. Pronto." Dylan said, getting right down to business. I nodded in agreement.

"We need to find Fang first. I'm positive he thinks they're running experiments and tests on me, or worse. Besides, Max knows you wouldn't go down without a freaking hard fight. Me, not so much. I'm more of a word girl." I grinned.

"Okay. But we need to hurry. And no sappiness. Just find him and go, okay?" He requested. I got the picture. He really wanted to see Max, too.

"Got it. Fang knows enough to stay where he is in case I come back, so let's check the cave we slept in." I told Dylan. He nodded and followed my lead.

After much difficulty, since I had been unconscious for most of the journey away from the cave, we finally found it. Dylan and I heaved sighs of relief when we saw the faint glow of a dying fire. Fang was still there. He didn't abandon me. I sped forward, leaving Dylan in my dust.

"Fang!" I squealed, flying straight into the cave without even touching down and wrapping my arms around his neck. He sat in shock for a moment, comprehended what was happening, and wrapped his arms around me.

"It took you long enough. I've been waiting for two days." Fang smirked. No 'hello', no 'I missed you', no 'welcome back'. Just straight up sarcasm. God, I loved him.

"Well, I had a nice chat with Hans. He says hi." I retorted. Fang's eyes widened a bit in curiosity. I nodded. "I'll explain later. I think you'll be pretty impressed." I said proudly.

"Is Dylan with you?" A voice asked from the very back of the cave. I whipped around.

"Max? What're you doing here?" I beamed, hugging her. I hadn't even noticed her standing there. "Yeah, he should be here any-"

"Dylan!" Max cried as Dylan touched down at the mouth of the cave. She pushed past me and ran at him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"Hey." Dylan said lamely. Max smiled up at him, and he leaned down and kissed her, right then and there. With me and Fang watching. I looked at Fang and pretended to stick my finger down my throat. He smirked and rolled his eyes at Max. After about 15 seconds of this, I chucked a rock at Dylan, causing him to let go of Max and give me a confused look.

"You said no sappiness." I reminded him, throwing a rock up in the air and repeatedly catching it. Dylan shot me the finger. Jerk.

"Guys, I think it would be smart if we abandoned this mission. It's too dangerous for Fiorela and Dylan." Max indicated. Fang nodded in agreement. I guess Dylan and I had no voice in this. Fine by me. I'm in no hurry to go back there.

"So, explain what Hans said." Fang requested, leaning against the cold, stoney wall. I blushed.

"Well… he, uh…. He basically told Dylan and I that we failed at life. Then he went on to tell us that if both of us hadn't… _procreated_ with our other half in a year's time, he would come and kill us." I explained awkwardly. Max and Fang both looked disgusted. Dylan looked as embarrassed as I felt.

"And what did _you_ say?" Fang asked, jaw agape.

"Oh, she told him." Dylan interjected. "Her exact words were 'hell to the no'." Dylan said with a slight grin. Max and Fang both let out a sigh of relief.

"That's just sick. We're barely fifteen!" Max protested. I nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. Then he screamed something about how we had to or he'll come for us. Phsst. As if. When was the last time _we_ listened to and _adult_?" Dylan said, only half joking.

"So, what are our options here?" I asked. I don't really feel like dying, thank you very much.

"Whatever they are, they're limited." Dylan noted.

"Okay, so we could listen to Hans, so not going to happen, we could run away and hide, effective yet boring, or we could go kick his butt from here to Christmas, fun yet difficult." Max listed.

"So we're hiding. We obviously aren't going for option one, and option three is just begging Hans to kill both of us." Dylan said pointedly.

"First things first. Let's go back to the rest of the flock." Max said, spreading her wings. We all did the same, and there was barely any space left in the small cave. One by one, we jumped over the edge, nose diving and then pulling up with about 40 feet to go before we hit the ground.

After a half hour flight, we finally found the hotel. Max knocked on the window, and a few seconds later Nudge rushed over and pulled it open. We all tucked in our wings and flew in, rolling across the floor like they do in the spy movies.

"Guys! Welcome back! Iggy! Angel, Gazzy! Max is back!" Nudge squealed, bouncing off the walls as usual. Moments later, the remainder of the flock were in the room, hugging and all talking at once.

"So, what did you find out?" Gazzy said excitedly. Nudge and Angel looked up at us with bright eyes, hoping we would tell them we found their families. Poor kids. Iggy just sat there. He knew his parents, and he hated them. This probably wasn't very exciting for him at all.

"That if Max and I don't reproduce in a year, Dylan and I are gunna get slaughtered." I said, catching them all off guard. Iggy flailed and fell of the couch, where he was laying and eating an apple.

"Say _what_?" Nudge said, the look on her face making me hold back laughter.

"Max and I are supposed to have a successor, someone who will finish what she started if she can't save the world. Fang and Fee are supposed to have one that'll help the successor. Get it?" Dylan explained. Nudge's right eye was twitching, and everyone else looked utterly disgusted.

"So, are you going to?" Iggy asked after a long pause. I slapped him in the face. "Ow!"

"Of course not, you idiot!" I shouted at him. He rubbed his cheek, where a red handprint was starting to form.

"Jeez, it was just a question." He muttered.

"Oh, my God. What're you going to do?" Nudge gasped. Gazzy and Angel just stared at us, unsure of what to think.

"We're going to do what we did last time someone tried to kill us. We're going to get a makeover so no one will recognize us and we'll just lay low until he forgets about it." Max told her. Nudge and Angel squealed with delight, and Iggy and Gazzy sighed, clearly not loving the fact that they had to get 'makeovers'.

"Do we have to?" Gazzy moaned.

"Unless you want us to die, yeah." I responded.

"Nice knowing you." Iggy mumbled. I smacked him again.

"Okay, everyone get showered and into bed. We leave first thing in the morning." Max dictated, clapping her hands. Everyone split, brushing teeth and fighting over shower usage.

About an hour later, everyone was washed and ready for bed. As I was spreading thick blankets out on the floor for Max and I while she was saying goodnight to Angel and Gazzy, I heard a soft brushing noise behind me. Before I could even turn around, a pair of hands had grasped my shoulders. I let out a small pip of a scream.

"Boo!" Fang breathed in my ear. I turned around and swatted him on the arm.

"Don't _do_ that!" I screamed at him, hitting him rapidly. He held his hands up and laughed as I flailed my arms around, hitting him randomly. Eventually, I collapsed into laughter too.

"Just came to say goodnight." Fang grinned, kissing me on the lips. He held it there for a few seconds, and the released me.

"I love you." I said sheepishly. He smirked at me.

"I love you, too." He responded, making my heart go aflutter. "Oh, and don't listen to Hans. He won't get anywhere near you, not while I'm around." He said seriously, kissing me on the forehead before he went to his own bed. I fell asleep that night feeling safer than ever. Fang would protect me, no matter what.

A/N: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! And I that bad of a writer that I can't even get one stinking review? C'mon, guys!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Finally, someone reviewed! Thanks for making my day, macey101catlover! If you don't know who this is, you should check out her profile. She writes Maximum Ride fanfictions, too, and she's good! As for the rest of you… I am disappoint.

We were all up and ready to go by seven then next morning. We packed up all our stuff (and the stuff we stole from the hotel), and readied for take-off. Yeah, as if we were actually going to _pay_. Don't make me laugh.

"Everyone ready?" Max asked, trying to sound perky. Everyone groaned. Do _you_ like waking up at six in the morning? Because we don't.

"Give me a minute." Iggy said, chugging down the rest of his Monster. That was his third one this morning. That _can't_ be healthy. "I'm good."

"Alright. Let's go. Iggy, if you keel over and die, we are not going back for you. That's what you get for drinking all the Monster." Max thumped him twice on the back.

"It's your fault. I wouldn't need them if you hadn't woken me up at five freaking thirty!" Iggy retorted. Max started to say something, but Fang cut her off.

"Ladies, please. You're both pretty. Can we leave now?" He said jokingly yet with a straight face, stepping between them and holding out his arms as if things were going to get ugly. Dylan and I tried to stifle laughter, pretty ineffectively.

As Fang returned to our unorganized line-up, I held my hand out slightly behind my back. We quickly did our little handshake we had made up a while back. Soon enough, we were taking turns leaping out the window, opening our wings, and letting the wind carry us as far as possible, where we waited for the others.

"Raise your hand if you're not here." Max said, doing a quick headcount. "Hmm. I don't see Nudge."

"Me neither." Iggy added sincerely. Max slugged him on the arm. "Well, it's true." He mumbled. He's quite the wit, isn't he?

"I'll go look." Fang and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and smiled a bit. I guess that was a 'perfect other half' thing, the talking at the same time. It happens to Max and Dylan a lot, too.

"We're going to keep going. Catch up, okay?" Max called back, already moving further away from us. I shot her a thumbs up.

"Did you see her leave?" I asked Fang after quickly scanning the area.

"Yeah." Fang answered. Helpful.

"She must've gone down, then." I squinted, trying to see if I could spot her on the ground. "Maybe she saw a cat, or something." Fang shrugged. Again, so very helpful. I tucked in my wings and dropped like a rock, feet first. It was just something we did to scare each other. After about 30 feet, I stopped and looked up at Fang, grinning cheekily. He grinned back, and we both plunged to the ground in unison. We opened out wings with only about 20 feet to go, and landed softly on the pavement outside the hotel. Luckily, nobody saw, since it was only seven and a weekend.

"Nudge?" I called as softly as possible, hoping not to wake anyone. "Nudge? Where are you? It's Fang and Fiorela."

"Shh." Fang hushed me, holding up his hand. I listened closely, not moving a muscle. I heard a faint sobbing coming from around the corner of the hotel. We exchanged glances. Nudge.

We ran around the corner at full speed. None of us ever cried, so when someone did you knew it was bad. We braked in unison, out sneakers skidding on the pavement. Sure enough, Nudge was sitting against the wall, balled up in the fetal position. Fang and I relaxed a bit. It was just a preteen meltdown. No biggie.

"Nudge? What's the matter?" I asked as Fang and I sat down on either side of her. Fang put his arm over her while I rubbed her back, right between the wings. It calmed all of us down.

"This… is… stupid! I… I don't… wanna… keep… moving!" Nudge choked out between sobs. Fang and I looked at each other. So that's what this was about.

"It'll be okay." I murmured, smoothing over her hair.

"I want… a real… house! I… want my… own bed! I want… to be… able to…leave my stuff… all over the floor!" Nudge howled, nuzzling up against Fang, burying her face in his shirt.

"That's what we all want. I promise we'll find a nice place to live, somewhere nice and safe, okay? Just try to hold on for now." Fang reassured her. She wrapped her arms around him, and he swept one of his hands repeatedly over her head, holding her with the other. Fang glanced at me and I smiled at him. He may deny it, but he's got major parental instincts. He rocked her from side to side until she calmed down.

"Are we okay now?" I said, resting my head on my knee so I could look Nudge in the eye. She nodded, and we stood up and extended our wings. I gave Nudge a comforting hug, and she took off, a bit embarrassed from letting someone see her cry. Evidently wanting some time to herself, Fang and I held back a bit, giving her some space.

"Nice job back there." I smiled at him. He shot me a look, suggesting I was making fun of him. "No, really! You're good with things like that."

"Thanks, I guess." Fang mumbled, looking awkward and blushing slightly.

"Well, I think it's sweet." I reached out and took his hand. He smiled his classic Fang smile, with just a hint of oh-God-shut-up-right-now mixed in. Oh, my God, I could just kiss his face off… sorry. Back to reality.

"So, New York. You ever been?" Fang asked, clearing his throat and letting go of my hand. I grinned slightly to myself. Look at him, getting all embarrassed. How cute.

"Nope. Pretty much just California, Michigan and Ohio. I mean, we flew over other places, but we never actually went there, you know?" I was talking a mile a minute. Oh, God. What was wrong with me?

"Uh… yeah. Well, you'll love it. Big city, even bigger crowds and even bigger freaks. You'll blend right in." He smirked mordantly. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, _I'm_ the freak. Okay, Fang." I said sardonically. He grinned and nodded, as if he were saying 'you've got that right'.

"I think I see the flock." Fang remarked, pointing off into the distance. I followed his finger. Sure enough, five dark splotches were drifting through the sky, way off on the horizon. I nodded.

"Yeah, that's them. I'll race you there." I grinned. He smirked back.

"No fair. You can go twice as fast as I can." Fang joked, as if it really mattered to him who won and who lost.

"I'll give you a five second head-start." I responded.

"Ten."

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Deal. On your mark, get set, go!" I cried as he zoomed past me, sending my hair askew. I counted down from eight, and propelled myself forward, rocketing past Nudge, and eventually Fang. I heard Nudge laugh through the wind whooshing in my ears, and she too went full throttle after me.

I pulled to a halt about ten feet away from the rest of the flock, who were all looking at me as if I had lost my mind. Which probably did happen. It probably left with my dignity and innocence. Before anyone could say anything, Fang raced to my side, panting.

"HA! I won! Looooser!" I teased, pointing my finger at him and doing a little victory dance. He glared playfully at me.

"You cheated." He smirked. I cocked my right eyebrow.

"Oh, did I? I'm gen-81; you're gen-54. You're an old model, dear." I joked. Fang chuckled a bit and shot me the bird. Oh, yeah. We know sign language.

"How nice of you to join us. Where's Nudge?" Max interjected. Fang flicked his head backwards, indicating that she was coming. Max nodded, and after a few seconds Nudge was by her side.

"Where'd you go, Nudge?" Gazzy asked innocently. Nudge looked awkwardly at the ground.

"She thought she saw something. No big deal, it was just a deer." Fang said quickly, thinking on his feet. Or on his wings. Whatever. Max raised her eyebrows in doubt. He mouthed 'later' to her. She nodded, understanding.

"Alright, so we're going from Columbus to New York. It'll be a long flight, but we should be able to make it in one day. If we go full speed, I bet we could make it in four or five hours." Max thought out loud. Then we all launched ourselves full-force, me and Dylan a good 100 feet in front of the others, Max, Fang and Iggy only about 50 feet behind us.

~x~

After four hours of flight, we finally found the salon, where the flock had apparently gone a long time ago, before Dylan and I even existed. We landed out back, and walked around to the front.

"This is it, alright." Max said quietly, noting the giant hairbrushes that guarded the entrance. Iggy and Gazzy seethed in the back, neither of them very happy to be back here. I didn't blame them. This place looked a little bizarre. And by a little, I mean a lot.

"Oh, get over yourselves. It'll be fun!" Nudge squeaked. She obviously didn't feel the same way as Iggy and Gazzy in the whole makeover department. Actually, she looked like she was about to puke a rainbow.

"Don't worry, Ig. They won't put any makeup on you." Angel said sweetly, as if that was what Iggy cared about. His main concern was probably that they would wash his hair, that animal.

As we went into the store, the scent of new plastic and hairspray hit us like a wall. The people who worked there probably long forgot what fresh air smelt like.

"Hello and welcome! My name's Chloe and I'm the manager! Today is the beginning of our annual promotion! If you let us do your hair and clothes however we want, you don't have to pay us at all!" A skinny woman said in a voice that reminded me of Magenta from Rocky Horror Picture show.

"Uh, okay." Max said awkwardly, taken aback by the lady's presentation. Out of nowhere, a bunch of employees, all dressed, well, like they had just stepped out of Transsexual Transylvania (a planet of freaks, also from Rocky Horror), rushed over and escorted us quickly to the hairstylists, who immediately began chopping away at all of our hair. Dylan, who was sitting beside me, gave me a look that said 'what the heck is wrong with this place?' I shrugged. I guess that's New York for you.

I won't bore you with description, but in a couple hours' time, we all looked like completely different people. I paid the lady 30 bucks to permanently straighten my hair. Yes, they can do that. It would save me a lot of trouble, since getting tangles out of my hair was a time consuming job that I usually needed Iggy to help me with.

"OMG! Angel looks so cute! And I love Fiorela's hair! Oh, my God, it's like a style explosi-" Nudge squealed. Oh, Nudge. I wish she had an off button. Gazzy had slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Shut _up_, Nudge!" He said, exasperated. She blushed and muttered an apology.

"Okay, that's enough, Gaz. Are we good to go?" Max asked, getting down to business, as usual.

"Go where?" Angel enquired, raising a very good point. We didn't have anywhere to go.

"Well, maybe we should go try to find a hotel. You know, live there for a while?" I said pointedly to Max, quickly darting my eyes over to Nudge in an attempt to hint at her earlier meltdown. Max mouthed 'oh' and I nodded. She understood.

"That's a great idea. Somewhere to live for a while. Yeah, we can do that." Max said, smiling at Nudge.

"Really! Oh, my God! Yay, Max! This is going to be so cool!" Nudge cheered and began to rapidly tell Angel all the good points about having a house, which Angel probably already knew. Fang smiled a bit and glanced over at me, knowing what I had just done. I shrugged innocently, and pavement pounding we went.

A/N: If you want a more detailed view of what their makeovers looked like, go to /Dream Avatar, and go to Search. Type in LFLFangfairy and then the character's name, for example LFLFangfairyAngel or LFLFangfairyIggy. You catch my drift? Good. If you have any questions, PM me!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Well, I probably _will_ end up writing a chapter a day, since _someone_ (HyperActivePsycho) won't ask her mom for a train ride from Ottawa to here… you suck, Rowan. Just kidding, I lurf you! (Not really). Hooooly crap, guys. Tomorrow is going to be 50 degrees Celsius, 118 degrees Fahrenheit where I live (South-western Ontario). HOOOLY CRAP!

A word to the wise: never go house-hunting with three tired, hot and bored mutant bird kids and a blind guy who won't stop making 'I'm blind' jokes every time you say something like 'Look at the view!'. Chances are you'll get annoyed very, very quickly.

"Why am I doing this again?" Max muttered to me as we walked down East 94th street. The kids were all complaining, even Angel. And she was usually the quiet, cute one. Now, I kind of wanted to smack them.

"If you want, Fang and I can take them to Central Park while you and Dylan look around." I offered, seeing that Max was about to kill everyone if they didn't shut up.

"Okay. Power to ya." Max sighed in relief.

"Just come find us when you find one." I told her, as it would be much easier to find six kids in one park than two in New freaking York. She nodded, massaging her temples. "Okay, guys. Fang and I are taking you to the park." I announced, realizing as I said it that Fang had no idea. I glanced over at him apologetically, praying he would play along. All the kids cheered, except for Iggy who seems to think he's to cool to act excited about anything. Or maybe he's just an incredibly dull person. Angel grabbed my hand and started skipping cheerfully down the sidewalk, her new rainbow streak shining in the sun.

"Good luck!" Dylan called over his shoulder as they walked in the opposite direction. Angel tugged on my arm, causing me to stumble forward. Fang smirked at me.

"Ooh! Fang, look! Slushies!" Nudge said, pointing to a street cart with some red, orange and blue slushie machines on top. Fang sighed, running his fingers through his now blue-streaked hair.

"How much do you have?" I sighed, as we were clearly going to have to buy some. He shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out a few bills and coins.

"Thirty bucks." He replied, counting them quickly. All the kids looked at me with hopeful eyes, and Iggy just kind of stood there looking bored, as usual.

"How much?" I asked Nudge, since it was her smart idea in the first place.

"Two forty-nine each." She responded. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"What do you think?" I asked Fang, so I wouldn't be held fully responsible for making or breaking their spirits.

"That'll leave us with… twenty dollars and four cents." Fang quickly added. Everyone turned to him. "Fine."

"Yay! I love you Fang!" Angel cheered, hugging him tightly. He looked like he wanted to drop dead. I couldn't help but giggle. He handed her the money and she, Nudge and Gazzy ran over to the stand. Fang, Iggy and I hung back.

"And what'll it be for you?" The chubby, bald man said with a huge, fake smile. The kids looked at him like he was God incarnate.

"Umm… I'll have blue." Gazzy said to the man, who immediately pulled the lever and handed him a blue raspberry slushie.

"Orange, please!" Nudge beamed. You know kids are deprived when getting a freaking slushie has the same excitement factor as winning the lottery would for normal people. The man handed her it, and she happily took it.

"I'll have a blue too, please." Angel said in a voice so sweet it could make you cry. The man grinned as if Angel was the cutest little thing he ever did see, which I wouldn't be surprised if she was. He slid the slushie across the counter top, and she gripped it tightly with her little hands. Little did the man know that those same hands have knocked out men three times her age. "Iggy, what do you want?" Angel called back.

"Whatever!" He responded. She pointed to the red one, and he pulled it and handed it to Nudge, whose hands could hold more than one slushie at a time, unlike Gazzy and Angel. Angel handed him the money and raced back to us.

"Here, Iggy." Nudge said, pressing the slushie to Iggy's stomach so he knew where it was. He nimbly grabbed it, and we started on our way. Once we were out of the vendor's view, we all stopped. As a rule, we never let the younger kids eat or drink anything unless one of the older kids tested to make sure there were no bombs or poison or something else that could hurt them. Ah, the life of a paranoid bird kid.

"Do you want to, or should I?" I asked Fang. He shrugged, which was pretty much his answer to most questions.

"I'll do it." He said, taking Angel's slushie and taking a short sip. He then did the same for Nudge and Gazzy. Iggy was old enough to do it himself, but he still had to wait a few minutes to see if Fang keeled over.

"Anything?" I asked after a few minutes.

"No, I think they're good to eat. Go ahead." Fang pronounced. All the kids put their lips to the straw.

"Wait!" Gazzy cried. Everyone stopped to look at him. He pointed to the bottom of his slushie, and Fang leaned in to take a look. Suddenly, Fang snatched it up and whipped it as far as he could. He did the same to everyone else's.

"What're you-" Nudge began to ask, but Gazzy cut her off.

"DUCK!" He shouted. Okay, when a normal nine year old says duck, you expect to be hit by a spit ball or water balloon. But when the Gasman says duck… well, you're probably going to die if you don't listen. This in mind, we all hit the deck and covered our heads.

About five seconds later, a chain reaction of four bombs exploded, right where Fang had thrown the slushies. Once the debris had settled, we all gathered ourselves to our feet.

"Was that a… slushie bomb?" Nudge asked, dumbfounded. Fang and I looked at each other. If he had been a few seconds slower…

"Death by slushie? Awesome!" Gazzy hammered his fists in the air. Okay, it's official. Gazzy needs to stop spending time with Iggy.

"Good eye, Gaz." I said, ruffling his gelled up hair. "Now let's get out of here before we get arrested."

"Fiorela?" Angel asked sweetly, tugging at my shirt.

"Yeah?" I said, taking her hand.

"The slushie guy is gone." She noted, pointing toward the now abandoned slushie stand. Fang and I exchanged glances, knowing exactly what each other was thinking. Hans.

"Okay, trip to the park is officially cancelled, mostly because Fang just blew it up. Let's go." I said, turning backwards and walking away from the park, where fires on trees and plants were being put out by firemen.

~x~

"Max!" Angel cried, running to her when we finally found them on the street. Max and Dylan had been running in our direction when we saw them coming around the corner.

"Guys!" Max shouted, picking Angel up in her arms and walking toward us.

"We heard there was an explosion in Central Park." Dylan said questionably, looking at Gazzy and Iggy in uncertainty.

"Yep. It was him." I said, pointing to Fang. He threw his arms in the air.

"It was the slushie guy!" He said, exasperated. I rolled my eyes. Details.

"Will someone please tell me what happened?" Max demanded.

"We bought them some slushies, and Fang did the whole poison test thing. We waited five minutes and he didn't die or anything, so we gave them back. Gazzy noticed something in his drink, so Fang took a look-see. He grabbed everyone's slushie and chucked 'em into the park. Like, a millisecond later, everything exploded." I explained. Max and Dylan's jaws were both hanging open.

"Well, on the upside, we found an apartment." Dylan said after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah? How much?" I asked, trying to forget about being bombed for the second time this week.

"Nothing- it's abandoned." Dylan smirked. Great, just our kind of place. Free.

"Show us." I commanded. Dylan began walking down the sidewalk, and we followed after him, Max still carrying Angel.

We walked for about five blocks, and there it was, right in the middle of 57th street. A huge tower, seemingly at least a hundred stories. It didn't look very abandoned. In fact, people were going in and out as we spoke.

"Explain to me how _that's_ abandoned?" I raised my eyebrows, pointing at the people rushing in and out.

"Not the whole building, just the top floor. Some guy fell out of it a few years ago, and they built a wall over the door so no one else could. The owners don't even know we were in there. We can just fly in and out the window." Dylan elaborated.

"It looks like someone's been living up there the whole time- everything works. The only problem is the electricity monitor thing in the basement, but I'm sure Gazzy and Nudge can make quick work of that." Max added. Nudge and Gazzy fist-bumped. We all smiled in approval. It sounded perfect.

"Let's go check it out, then!" I said happily. I had never had a home before, and neither had Dylan. Max told me they had once lived up in the mountains, but that it was a while ago.

The eight of us ran to the side if the building where no one could see us, and one by one began filing into the room. I looked around.

"Oh, my God, it's perfect!" Nudge squealed, clinging to my arm and jumping up and down. I shook her off and walked around the room. She was right- it was pretty cool. Bonus- it had five rooms, all fully equipped with enough beds for everyone.

"So, what do you guys think? Will we stay?" Max asked, already knowing the answer. Everyone gave some form of yes. Max and Dylan smiled. They'd found us a home. "Let's sort out the sleeping situation, and then Nudge and Gazzy can go kill the monitor. Three of the rooms have two single beds. Who wants to share a room with whom?" Max asked.

"Angel and I can." Nudge put forward. Angel nodded in agreement.

"Iggy and I will, right Ig?" Gazzy asked. Iggy shrugged, meaning yes.

"And I guess Fiorela and I will. Fang and Dylan get their own rooms." Max dictated. I'm glad se said that- Fang and Dylan would kill each other in no time flat if we made them share a room. They aren't exactly what you would call friends.

"Okay, Nudge and Angel, you get the room with purple walls. Get going." Max commanded, and the two girls took off giggling and talking excitedly about their new room. "Gazzy and Iggy, you're the one with red walls. Gaz, help Iggy get his bearings." Max told him, and they too started down the hall. "Dylan gets the blue walls and Fang gets green." The two started down the hall, separating at the very end, where they had rooms across from each other. "Which leaves us with white." Max smiled. We ran to our room, unpacking our stuff and putting it in the closets. It was a good feeling, sorting things in our room. It just made it feel less temporary.

After a few hours of redecorating, everyone was exhausted. It was about midnight, and Nudge and Gazzy had just returned from breaking the hydro monitor thing. We all showered and brushed our teeth and crawled into bed, feeling as if we had just been hit by a bus. It had been an overwhelming day, and I was just glad it was over.

A/N: It's more for me than for anyone else, but I drew up a floor plan of the apartment and will post it on my deviantART (wakamono-uchiha) as soon as I get the chance. It was just something to help me visualize the set-up better, but it'll be there in case anyone wants to know what it's supposed to be shaped like.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I am currently singing Mariana's Trench at the top of my lungs. Why am I only a good singer when no one else can hear me? Today (July 21st, 2011), South-western Ontario (where I live) is the hottest place on the entire planet. I'm not exaggerating. It actually is. It's on the news and in the papers. See? Canada _isn't_ all frozen tundra. Actually, most of it isn't. And no, none of us ride polar bears to school. Or wear parkas. There's you're _common sense_ lesson for today, boys and girls.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of something sizzling. I groaned and rolled over, forgetting where I was. I flopped onto the floor, hitting my head on the wooden base. I sat up, rubbing my head, when I heard someone laughing lightly from the door. I looked up to Fang was leaning against the door frame.

"Smooth." He smirked, helping me to my feet. I stuck out my lip and narrowed my eyes.

"Shut up." I mumbled, secretly mortified by my clumsiness. I loosened up my wings, letting them spread out a bit. They had been pressed flat against my back all night, and did it ever feel good to let them go.

"Breakfast's ready. Iggy told me to get you." Fang grinned. I started walking toward the door and knocked the lamp beside Max's bed askew with my wing. Fang stifled laughter as I blushed ferociously. What was wrong with me this morning? "I'm leaving before you humiliate yourself further. Put some clothes on." Fang smiled, throwing my jeans at my face and sniggering as he went out the door. I looked down and yelped as I realized I was standing there in my underwear and an old tank top. Oh, God. Why did I have to be so incredibly stupid?

I pulled on my jeans and my Invader Zim t-shirt that Gazzy and Iggy had gotten me for Christmas. I was preparing myself to tackle a tangled mop of fiery red hair, when I remembered I had gotten it permanently straightened. One last thing I had to do. Perfect. I let it stay down, and was shocked when it dropped to my thighs. When it was curly, it only went to my mid-back, that's how bad it was.

I stretched as I left my room and headed for the kitchen. Nudge, Gazzy and Angel looked like they were living the dream, sitting at our table while munching on some toast. Iggy, Max and Dylan had a system going; Max handed him an egg, Iggy fried it, and Dylan put it on one of the kids' plates. It was a wonder how Iggy managed to make such good food without burning himself.

"Mornin', Fee!" Angel said, toast and egg muffling her cheerful voice. It was good to see- all the kids looking so happy. It was almost like a normal family. Key word: almost.

"Hey, guys. Guess I overslept." I smiled, looking around. Everything was all set up as if we'd been living there for ages. "A lot. Where'd Fang go?" I asked, just now realizing he wasn't with the rest of the flock.

"He went shoplifting at Kroger's." Iggy told me without breaking his strategic egg-cracking pattern.

"Oh." I shrugged, taking a place between Angel and Gazzy. If this were a normal family, 'he went shoplifting' would mean Fang was in deep crap. But, since we have zero income, basically shoplifting was the only way we got anything done around here.

"Eggs up." Dylan stated, putting a plate of fried eggs in front of me. Four of them, to be exact. That's another reason to steal stuff, we go through food like a fish in water. I ate the eggs in like, seconds. Max closed the carton and put it back in the fridge, which had remarkably not grown mould in the years it went without use. Iggy put the frying pan in the sink, splashing cold water over it and leaving it to cool.

"Max, can Nudge and I go for a flight? We promise we won't let anyone see us." Angel asked cutely, giving Max major Bambi eyes. I hated when she did that. Iggy was the only one who was safe when she whipped out the ol' puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, Ange. Remember, this is New York, so don't go too far or you'll get lost." Max told her. She and Nudge went happily over to the window and threw themselves out, pulling up and out of the small alleyway that separated our and a much shorter building.

"And then there were five." I said, drumming my fingers on the table. It felt weird to relax. I had never really done it before. I felt like I was waiting for something to happen. Which, of course, I wasn't. We all migrated to the couches, sitting in awkward silence for a long time.

"Who wants to see Spider Man the musical? I hear it's pretty terrible!" Gazzy said, nudging me in the arm as if 'pretty terrible' was a good thing. I laughed, lightly shoving him.

"What're we gunna do with ourselves, guys? There isn't anything to run from, nothing to fight..." Max trailed off, leaving the rest of the nothings unsaid. I agree. There isn't anything to do.

"What about the old parent search? We still need to find most of 'em." Iggy suggested. I had heard about what happened with his parents. Not pleasant at all. They were basically king and queen of Jerkville. They wanted to sell him as a sideshow freak. Poor guy.

"Hmm. Not a bad idea. I know Gazzy and Angel aren't interested, since their parents sold them, but Nudge and Fang are for sure. Let's talk it over with them before we get into it, though. They may have changed their minds." Max pondered. Iggy had a good idea? Usually his brain didn't get too far past 'bomb'. First time for everything.

"In speaking of Fang, how long does it take to steal some freaking food? All he has to do is grab it and run." Iggy noted acerbically. He had a point- what was taking Fang so long?

"Gee, thanks, Iggy. Now I'm all worried." I droned, resting my chin in my hands. _Don't worry. _I told myself. _He probably just got sidetracked. Nothing bad's gunna happen. _I tried to calm myself, but I couldn't help but feel like something went wrong.

Suddenly, a huge thud sounded from behind the couch. We all whipped around, hoping it would be Fang coming home. No, it was just Angel and Nudge. Wait- why was Nudge crying…? Uh-oh. I knew what was coming before either of them said anything.

"Guys, come quick! It's Fang." Angel spoke well beyond the level of seriousness someone her age should be able to. Because she knew. Nothing was ever sugar-coated for her. It was all straight up- the good, the bad and the ugly. The five of us looked at each other, wide-eyed and scared. Me especially.

Without a word, we all leapt over the couch, racing to the window. We launched ourselves out as quickly and as efficiently as we could. I was fighting tears as I asked, "Where to?"

_Oh, you'll know_. Angel projected into my mind. That's never a comforting answer.

We were only flying for two or three minutes when we saw it. A police car, fire truck, and two ambulances, all sirens blaring. A yellow ribbon surrounding the area. _Oh, please God. Please, please let Fang be okay. Please let those ambulances be for someone else._ I prayed in my head. I knew deep down that, no matter how hard I prayed, there was no helping it. Fang was hurt, really, really bad. Of course he was. When did anything ever go in our favour?

"Fang?" Max asked grimly, Angel nodded solemnly. I felt my heart sink in my chest. We touched down behind a skyscraper.

"Is he…" Iggy couldn't bring himself to say the rest of his sentence.

"No, but close to it. I can still pick up on his thoughts, but they're all jumbled and blurry." Angel explained. Iggy gulped, looking more terrified than I'd ever seen him. Apparently Fang had had some health scares in the past, but this looked pretty serious. Nudge took Iggy's hand as we raced toward the scene. A cop tried to stop us, holding his arms out in front of him.

"We're his family." Max told him urgently, tears in her eyes, as they were in all of ours- except Iggy and Dylan. Too manly, I guess. The cop looked at us weird, noticing how we had varying skin tones, facial features and mannerisms. I guess the tears helped, because he stepped aside, allowing us through.

_Remember- his name is Nick._ Angel telepathically told the flock.

"Nick!" Max and I cried, bolting to the midst of the chaos, where Fang was laying. He was sprawled out on the tarmac, one arm slung across his chest. He was scarcely breathing. I had no idea what happened, but it didn't look good. Tears were streaming down my face as I got to my knees by his side. The rest of the flock hung back about five feet, giving me a moment, bless their souls.

"Oh, my God." I sniffled, putting his head on my lap. "Please wake up. You can't die. Please don't leave me!" I sobbed, the tears coming like waterfalls. I bent over him so my face was only a few inches from his. "Can you hear me, Fang? We need you. _I _need you. Please, Fang. No way are your last words to me allowed to be 'Put some clothes on'. You promised you'd protect me. I'm so scared, Fang." I was really bawling now. I didn't know that many tears could come from one person. "Just move your hand if you can hear me, okay? Just twitch your finger. C'mon, Fang. Please."

"Miss, we need to ask you a few ques-" A police officer started, but I interrupted him.

"Are you on _crack_? He might die right now, and you want me to answer your freaking _questions_?" I screamed at him. He raised his hands in a 'whoa, Nelly' motion and backed away, giving me space. Smart man.

I kept my eyes glued to his hand. This was way too much like a movie to be really happening. In the very back of my mind, I was thinking _Oh, yeah. And then I kiss him and he wakes up, we get married and live happily ever after, right? I've seen that movie a million times. _I half expected him to sit up and laugh, making fun of me for getting so upset. Then _I_ would kill him. But he didn't. I breathed shakily, trying not to pass out. People can die of a broken heart, you know. After about five minutes, I realized he wasn't going to move. The rest of the flock stepped forward, joining me.

"No, no, no. This isn't how it's going to end. This is going to be like the sappy movies, right? I have to kiss you, like Sleeping Beauty. Okay, fine. You win." I put my mouth to his, feeling the light flow of air enter and exit his mouth, another second of life in each one. I leaned back. Nothing. A second time, a third, a forth. Nothing. "What else do you want from me, Fang? Listen to me! Get up! Lie to me and tell me you're fine! Please?" The hopelessness in my voice surprised even me.

I looked up at the flock and shook my head. Max was sobbing into Dylan's shoulder as he rubbed her back, trying to be supportive as his eyes welled up too. Nudge was bawling uncontrollably into Iggy's shirt. Gazzy was crying and looking hopefully at Angel, who was shaking her head side to side, tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. The realization hit me like a train on its tracks. He was gone. He was really, truly gone. A paramedic put a white sheet over his body. I covered my face with my hands and got to my feet, slowly starting to stand and walk away, wanting to run and never come back.

As I got fully to my feet, I felt a hard tug on my hair that made my head snap back. I heard Angel gasp. I whisked around. The sheet hadn't moved, except his arm was extended, holding on to the fringe of my hair. He was alive!

My heart swelled and I collapsed to my knees. The rest of the flock dropped to my side, all overjoyed. I took his hand from my hair and held it in mine. Tears of pure joy flooded down my face. Paramedics rushed over, pulling the sheet off him and loading him onto a gurney. They wheeled him to the ambulance, and immediately began hooking him up to IVs and a heart monitor. The paramedics let me and Max into the back with him, while the rest of the flock agreed to meet at the hospital.

"He was holding this." A detective told us before we pulled away, holding up a half-drunken bottle of Coke. "Does this have any specific meaning to you?" I shook my head no, not wanting to give anything away. It all made sense. Fang got some Coke, his favourite form of breakfast, and somehow, someone must've poisoned it. Why anyone would poison Fang, I don't know. Maybe it was meant for me or Dylan. That made more sense.

Me and Max held each other's hands and cried for a while. After about five minutes, I heard a moan from Fang's gurney. Max and I immediately directed our attention to him. His eyes fluttered open. I can't even begin to explain the relief I felt as he slowly smiled his sexy half-smile.

"Fang!" I cried, throwing myself onto him. Max held his hand tight in her own. "You scared me so bad, you stupid jerk." I smirked at him, looking right into his dark, emotionless eyes. He shrugged, clearly still in touch with his Fangness.

"Hey. What's going on?" He said soothingly, pushing my hair behind my ear. He didn't remember.

"What's the last thing you remember, and we'll fill in the gaps." Max said softly, just as ecstatic to see him alive as I was. He sighed heavily, not being in love with the idea of talking.

"Well, I remember this tight burn and falling… then some lady calling 911… That's it." He strained to recall. I barely recognized him with the needles and medical tape on his skin. It just didn't look very… Fang-like. He still showed no emotion, but despite that, he looked really… fragile.

"Okay. Angel and Nudge went out for a flight, and I guess they saw it happen from the sky and brought us to you." Max started, leaving me to finish.

"And I was sitting beside you. You died, right there in my arms. You were actually dead. No breath, no heartbeat. Nothing." Fang's eyebrows shot up, but he still comforted me as I started blubbering again at the memory. I was such a bowl of jell-o today. "Sorry. And then I got up… and you grabbed my hair. Do you remember that?"

"Barely. I remember hearing you say something and try to walk away, so I tried to stop you." His dark eyes were tranquil, and as long as I looked into them I felt calmer. We sat for a while, letting Fang absorb what had happened and giving Max and I time to calm down and clear our heads a bit. I mean, God, ten minutes ago he was dead. Gone forever. Now he was awake and talking. It was all a bit much.

"So, how man people mourned over my cold, dead body?" Fang asked jokingly after a long pause. I would've smacked him on the arm if he was in a better condition, so I just glared at him instead. He smirked back.

"Everyone." Max smiled sheepishly. Fang looked satisfied. The ham.

"I've died like, ten times before, you know. It's like, weekly routine." Fang smirked and shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"No, you've come close a bunch of times, but you've only died once. And I had to inject adrenaline into your heart to bring you back. This time, I forgot my adrenaline shot at home." Max said sarcastically. Fang shrugged. Details, details.

The paramedics opened up the back doors, looking slightly taken aback by Fang being awake and alert. They rolled his gurney through the doors of the hospital, followed by Max and I. They brought him to the ER to give him a full check-over, and would then move him to Recovery, where he was supposed to stay for the next two weeks. Which means like, the next three days.

"Max!" Dylan called as we saw him and the rest of the flock making their way down the hall. We were waiting outside Fang's room, sitting in two of the four chairs lined up on either side of the door. Max waved and he took the seat beside her. Angel led Iggy to the chair beside mine, where he took the liberty of putting his feet up on my knees.

"How's Fang?" Dylan asked Max, who was drumming her fingers on the wall. Minus Dylan and me, the flock were all fidgety. They don't like hospitals. It reminds them of the School. Dylan and I were pretty much born and then thrust upon the rest of them, not really getting a chance to have any traumatizing experiences.

"He was talking and stuff, just like it never happened. They're just checking him over and then moving him to recovery." Max caught everyone up. They all looked pretty surprised that he had been talking.

"Which means any second now…" Iggy trailed off as the door opened, and he pointed at it like 'and here we go'. Max rested her head against the wall and shut her eyes. I knew this was coming.

"Which one of you is Max?" The doctor asked. Max raised her hand. "Can we talk to you for a second?"

"Talk to her." Max groaned, pointing to me. I threw my hands in the air like 'thanks for nothing, pal'. The doctor shuffled me around the corner. I made sure I shot Max a dirty look as I walked past her.

A/N: That was the longest chapter yet! Why is it that Fang dies all the freaking time? I mean, seriously. It was scary the first few times, but then it got old. Really, the only times it scared me was when Ari sliced him open in book 2 and the time he actually straight-lined in book 6. So… yeah. I'll start chapter 8 tonight, but I probably won't get it finished until tomorrow. R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So… eight chapters in six days. That's pretty sweet. This story is just one thing after another, isn't it? I love making life hard for people who aren't me. It's strangely refreshing.

I was standing in the hallway with the doctor. He gave me his best 'I'm your friend' smile. As if I would ever trust a guy in a white coat. I mean, Barney the dinosaur could dress up like a doctor and I would have no choice but to kick his butt from here to next December.

"So, um…" He trailed off.

"Natasha." I said the first name that came to mind.

"Natasha. Nick. Is he your brother, boyfriend…?" The doctor started.

"Boyfriend. Explain to me again how this helps Nick?" I asked, trying to peek over his clipboard. He ignored my question.

"We noticed something peculiar about Nick. Do you know what I'm talking about?" The doctor asked. Oh, so that was his game. Kiss up until they feel comfortable, then snap the trap. Well, I wasn't _that_ stupid.

"His hair isn't naturally blue, you know. He dyed it." I said sarcastically. He sighed. Yep, I _was_ one of the difficult ones.

"I do believe you know what I'm talking about. Your friend Nick has wings on his back, Natasha." Wow, already on a first name basis? I don't think so.

"Doesn't everyone?" I said, sounding genuinely like I had no idea that wasn't normal. The doctor's eyes widened.

"Does that mean you…" He trailed off.

"Yep. I have a tail, too. And a blowhole." I nodded matter-of-factly. The doctor rolled his eyes like 'Stupid kid. I wasn't born yesterday.' Well, he sure acted like it, seeing as he still didn't notice that we were all using aliases and the lack of Fang's medical records. Yeah, _I'm_ the stupid one.

"Okay, Natasha. You can go now." The doctor took a deep breath. Clearly, I had really aggravated him. It was very satisfying to know.

"Thanks, Steve." I smiled, shaking his hand.

"My name isn't Steve…" The doctor raised an eyebrow. He was probably wondering if he should submit my case to the psyche ward. That would probably be a very good idea, but its fun to mess with people.

"I like Steve better. Chew on it." I patted his arm friendlily, turning to walk away. I sniggered to myself as I rounded the corner, rejoining the flock. I loved messing with people. It was one of the simple joys in life. Not as good as punching someone in the face who deserved it or flying through a cloud, but it was still up there.

"What's up?" Max asked as I took my seat back beside Iggy.

"He tried to weed Fang's personal information out of me. I wasn't very cooperative." I told her. She grinned at me, letting me know I did the right thing. We sat in silence for a while, and even I was getting fidgety. What was keeping Fang so long? Just as I thought that, a doctor with a face mask on rushed into Fang's room. Nudge gasped, bolting to her feet.

"Fee- that was the slushie guy." She said in a sort of calm panic. I shot to my feet and ran in the door, followed by the rest of the flock.

"Party's over, boys." I said in a very cool, comic book hero voice. Fang, who was sitting on an examination table, looked at me questionably, but still jumped to his feet and rushed to our side. Seems like he made a speedy recovery.

Everything went kind of berserk after that. Two of the doctors pulled out tasers, while the other three just kind of stood there, looking dumb. Let's hear it for modern health sciences, folks. One of the armed ones lunged at Nudge, who wasted no time with putting him in a headlock and choking him, compelling him to drop the taser. She kicked it over to Gazzy, who picked it up and held it out in front of him, daring anyone to come closer.

In about five minutes, we had a room full of five incarcerated, unconscious assassin-doctors and eight adrenaline-pumped bird kids who had desperately needed to punch someone in the face. We didn't even need Gazzy and Iggy to blow anything up! Well, those doctors didn't put up much of a fight. We may need to find someone else to beat up soon.

"And these are the people we trust with our lives." Max muttered. I don't blame those kids who are afraid of the doctors'. They're the smart ones.

"Ca we go home now, Max?" Angel asked, grabbing Max's hand. Angel could probably kill someone with her cuteness.

"Sure. Let's move." Max said. Dylan walked across the hall and, with the help of superhuman strength, punched a window out. An alarm sounded. Crap. The eight of us threw ourselves out the window, the cool, evening air feeling like liquid in our lungs. Ahh.

"How're you feeling?" I asked Fang, who was flying beside me.

"Like normal, actually." He said as if he was just noticing it now himself.

"Weird. You can go from flat-lining to normal again in just a few hours." I smiled. He nodded in agreement. We reached the apartment in no time flat. We all ducked inside, feeling so glad to be home.

"We still have no food… we should hit a McDonald's." Iggy suggested. Now that he mentioned it, I was starving.

"No. We have like, a dozen eggs, some apples and a loaf of bread left over. Let's eat that first. I don't want anyone else leaving until things have died down a bit." Max said, going through the cupboards and fridge.

"Max-" Fang started to protest, but Max shot him a cold glare that shut him up.

Iggy made dinner, and it was delicious, seeing as it was only poached eggs on toast and an apple. Hunger is a great sauce. Well, everyone was pretty much exhausted. It had been a long day. Angel and Gazzy had fallen asleep on the couch while watching cartoons, and Fang and I had to carry them to their beds. Those kids weigh like, five pounds each. We need to start feeding them more.

"So, who wants to tell me why everyone's trying to kill us?" Iggy asked, throwing his hands in the air. We were all sitting in me and Max's room, Iggy sitting on the floor with his back against the closet, Max cross-legged on her bed, Dylan sitting on the floor in front of her, and Fang and I leaning against the wall while sitting on my bed.

"No clue." I said, resting my head against the wall. This whole thing was turning my brain to mush. Every time we thought we had it figured out, it would slip away.

"We know Hans is behind it, but why poison Fang if it's Dylan and Fee they're after?" Max pondered. I gasped, sitting up straight. I had it!

"What's up, Fee?" Dylan asked, as everyone turned their eyes to me.

"Oh, my God. Dyl, I figured it out! If Hans gets rid of Fang and Max, you and I would have no reason for living. We would die, just like he wants us to." I explained. Everyone's eyes widened, and Max and Fang looked at each other.

"But why would he kill Max and Fang? Aren't they like, multimillion dollar investments? Why would they throw that much money down the drain to get rid of a couple of clones?" Dylan questioned. He had a point.

"Think about it, Dyl. Fang and I cost a lot of money to make, but now they have more powerful models, like you two. It would be easy to just recreate us." Max noted. She had a point too.

"I'm glad I don't have another half." Iggy said sardonically. He really needed to learn when to keep his thoughts to himself. Max threw a pillow at him.

"So we're basically screwed." I said, flopping down onto my stomach.

"Pretty much. We've just gotta lay low. Like, completely off the radar. Don't eat anything that might be dangerous. Check for bombs in everything. Disguise yourself when you leave the apartment. Stuff like that. Eventually, they'll think we just dropped right off the map." Max gave us the run down.

"Or," Dylan started. "we could do the exact opposite. Cause chaos in New York so they think we're still here, but actually head off somewhere else. Somewhere where we can lie low."

"Slip right under their radar." Fang concluded.

"Exactly." Dylan nodded.

"I don't know, guys. The kids love having an actual home. I don't just want to take that from them." Max said. We all looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah, and I love being alive. Do you want to take that from me?" I asked sarcastically. She looked at me like 'that's not what I meant'.

"We can find somewhere far away to live. We can't stay in New York, Max. They almost got Fang, it won't be long before they come after you." Dylan coaxed. Max sighed in remorse, not knowing what to do.

"Okay." She said after a minute of thought. "But _you're_ breaking the news to the kids, Dylan. Now, how do we cause chaos in New York?" Max asked.

"We have to make it so it's really obvious it was us. Something that nobody else could do. But we have to do it discreetly." Iggy thought out loud. We all sat for a moment, nobody coming up with any ideas that were both obvious _and_ tactful.

"Fang's blog." I snapped my fingers. Everyone looked at me with confusion.

"What about it?" Fang asked.

"You can post videos, right?" I asked him. He nodded slowly, as if he were saying 'and…?'. "We can make a video of us in New York. You know, views from the sky, goofing off, that kind of thing."

"That's… actually a really good plan." Max said, a smile creeping across her lips. "What do you think, Fang?"

"I don't care." Fang shrugged. He didn't care about most things.

"Okay. Let's make us a video! What'll we put in it?" Max clapped her hands together.

"Well, two of us could take the camera right now and fly over Times Square. Get a night view of it, and then sort of film each other. We could do a little talk thing on how nice it is here and stuff. Then just like, random video clips." I suggested. Everyone nodded. Yay, my first plan.

"Sure. You and Fang can go, since it's your idea. We'll stay here and screw around on the webcam." Max grinned, tossing me the camera. I hopped off the bed, grabbing my sweater. Fang did the same.

Do you know what's better than doing a standing freefall out a bazillion story building? Nothing.

I filmed Fang as we flew, trying to get his flight at different angles. It really was amazing, they way we flew. He spoke into at as I held it.

"Hey, guys. Fang and Fiorela here. We're flying over New York, where we've been staying for the past few days. Well, the view is amazing from up here, so here it goes." Fang said to the camera. Once he was done, I angled the camera downwards, getting a perfect view of Times Square.

"So, Fang. Tell everyone what happened today." I said, aiming the camera back at him. He smirked.

"I died." He smiled. I wonder how many people would believe that. "Oh, and Iggy made toast." He added in a serious tone. I laughed.

"Do something fancy." I grinned. He raised his eyebrow at me and curved his left wing back, spinning in a complete circle before doing a somersault in mid-air.

"How was that?" He smirked. I gave him a thumbs up. "Okay, your turn." He said as I handed him the camera. "Tell the people who you are."

"Fiorela. Fang's girlfriend." I said, doing a peace sign.

"Tell them about yourself." Fang smirked, trying to make me feel awkward.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what to say.

"Favourite colour, movie, song… random stuff like that." Fang smirked at my stupidity.

"Oh. Well, my favourite colours are black and lime green. My favourite movie is Rocky Horror Picture Show because it makes me feel normal in comparison. I like Elton John because he's Captain Fantastic, and that's just a cool name. Oh, and David Bowie because he sparkles. I hate… most things, but mostly Itex. And reality TV. Is that good enough?" I listed.

"Sure. One more question. Why are we in New York?" Fang looked right at me, trying to tell me that this was the big hint for Itex.

"So Itex can't find us." I smiled, hoping I looked sincere. Fang clicked the camera off. "Was that good?"

"Yep. Okay, let's go home." Fang smirked, pulling a U-turn and heading back toward the apartment. I grinned to myself and followed him.

Once we got back, we headed back to my room. Everyone was asleep, sprawled out wherever they were when we left. Losers. Fang and I sat on my bed, and Fang began playing the video back.

About a minute in, I fell asleep. I rested my head on his shoulder and curled up against Fang, subconsciously knowing he was there. I numbly felt his head lean against mine, and then we were both sound asleep.

A/N: Now, wasn't that adorable? I have nothing to write here. Oh, right! Thanks to RockSolid for being a supportive reader! Three gold stars for you =D R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Chapter 9. I'm on fire. There is nothing else to say.

The next morning, I woke up at like, noon. I would've slept in later, but Fang got up before me and his moving woke me up. I went to take a quick shower. Nothing too special there. You know the drill. When I was walking back to my room, Dylan was trying to convince the kids to move.

"I don't want to! We finally found somewhere to live!" Nudge protested. Dylan sighed in agitation. I guess they've been over that point more than once.

"I know. But we can find an even nicer place somewhere else, okay? Plus, we won't have to live in fear of being blown up." Dylan pointed out. Nudge crossed her arms and pouted, but I guess she gave up.

"Fine." She huffed.

I returned to my room and quickly got changed into my new outfit. Just as I was pulling my hair back, I heard Max call "Flock meeting!" I hurried out of my room and took a spot on the couch between Angel and Nudge.

"Okay, so clearly, we're moving on. The question is, where to? It has to be totally clear of the US, so not Canada or Mexico. Who wants to go where?" Max rallied, leaning against the wall, ready to write down suggestions.

"Venice!" Gazzy said right away. Max nodded and wrote it down.

"Oh, I liked France!" Nudge threw in. Max jotted it down.

"Anything else?" Max asked, looking around. Nobody said anything. "Okay, who votes Venice?" She asked. Gazzy, Iggy, Dylan, Max, Fang and I all raised our hands. Nudge shrugged. Venice it was.

"Okay, guys. It's a long flight, so be prepared. Fang, did you post the video?" Max said, jumping right into leader-mode. He nodded. "Excellent. Grab all your stuff and let's fly."

Well, the flock doesn't have much stuff, so that took all of like, five minutes. We all met back up at the window. I took a deep breath, knowing I was about to say goodbye to the only home I had ever known. Fang came up behind me and grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I grinned up at him. Then, right in the middle of our Kodak moment, Gazzy decided that he would let the demons out, if you catch my drift. Well, if that wasn't a mood kill, I don't know what was.

"Okay. Time to go." Max said, waving her hand in front of her face. Gazzy giggled mischievously.

We all leaped out the window for the last time, letting the wind fill our wings like sails. I felt the crisp air soothe me as we soared over Manhattan for the last time in God knows how long. I took in the moment; the eight of us all flying in perfect synchronization over beautiful New York City.

~x~

We had reached Easthampton, a town just a few miles from the east coast, by ten o'clock that night. We'd gone a bit over 80 miles, and everyone was exhausted. We found a huge willow tree that could comfortably accommodate all of us. It was perfect- the overhanging branches hid us completely so nobody would be able to see us.

Without a word, we all clambered onto separate branches and drifted off to sleep. I looked around at our sleeping flock. Gazzy was slung over a branch so that his feet and arms dangled over the edge. Angel was curled up, lying on her stomach and using her hands as a pillow. Iggy was slouched against the trunk, his left leg hanging over his bough. Nudge straddled a Y in the branches, leaning forward so her cheek rested on one branch. Dylan was basically doing the same as Iggy. Fang had his hands behind his head. As I looked closer, I realized he wasn't sleeping. He was just looking up at the stars through a gap in the overhang. I hung upside-down from my branch, so my face was even with his.

"Hey." I said softly, not wanting to startle him.

"Hey." He responded without looking away from the night sky.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

"Thinking." Wow, he really wasn't easy to make small-talk with, was he?

"About what?" Ha. How would he avoid that?

"Stuff." Crap.

"Like what?" I've got you now, Fang.

"You. Me. Max. The flock. Our families. Itex…" He trailed off, leaving the rest of his list unsaid. I sighed, dropping down to the branch next to his.

"This sucks." I grumbled, swinging my legs over the side. He nodded. "We have way too much crap to deal with." He nodded again.

"Its funny- all the kids who read my blog all say they want to be like us, but all we want is to be like them." Fang shook his head. "I don't get it. They _want_ to be homeless? They _want_ to be hunted?"

"Well, maybe when your life is so much like everyone else's, you just want to be different, you know? You just want to be something nobody else could be." I wondered, gazing up at the stars. It was like a sea of lights.

Without so much as a word, Fang reached out and took my hand. I smiled, but didn't break the staring contest I was having with the sky. My eyelids began feeling heavy, and I eventually fell asleep, my hand still interlocked with Fang's.

~x~

Fang woke up the next morning before I did, carefully untangling his fingers from mine. The sudden movement startled me, and I gracefully fell out of the tree and landed right on my butt. I heard Gazzy snickering. Excellent.

"Stealthy." Gazzy smirked. I glared at him as he pulled me to his feet. He was becoming a mini-Iggy. No wonder everyone's thinking of the apocalypse. One Iggy is bad enough.

"Okay, guys. Let's go find a restaurant. We'll need our strength." Max smiled, looking happily at the flock. Flying across the Atlantic- no big deal. Eating at a restaurant- best thing ever. It's very sad.

"Breakfast at McDonalds?" Nudge suggested. Max shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" Max smiled. Ugh. She was doing that mom routine again. It was creepy.

~x~

Well, we sure surprised the lady working the cash at McDonalds. We ordered a ton of food- two breakfasts each. We paid her basically all the money we had left, and went to find a table.

"It's good, but not as good as your food, Iggy." Angel said sweetly. He grinned and blushed, hiding his face behind his Egg McMuffin. Oh, life in America.

"So, right when we're done we have to go?" Gazzy asked innocently through a mouthful of bacon. He was just so adorable. Too bad he's a little jerk.

"Yep. We'll crash in Ireland or England or somewhere like that." Max said, chugging down the remainder of her milk. Gazzy nodded, accepting that answer. It's a good thing, since he didn't have much of a choice.

"Well, whatever country it is, I bet Fang and Fee will share a branch again." Iggy said in a mocking sing-song voice. I kicked him hard under the table. "Ow!"

"That's what you get for being a jerk." I teased. Fang winked at me. That pig.

After a long conversation that lasted a good hour, we finally headed to the coast. It was pretty- water as far as the eye could see. It would drive me insane while we were flying for sure, so I might as well be positive as long as I could.

"So we have to fly across _that_-" Nudge said, pointing off into the horizon. "in one freaking day?"

"Yep. We could always land on a cruise ship or something if we need a breather, so don't panic." Max told us.

"Cool. Shall we?" Dylan smiled, unfolding his wings. We all did the same. We sprinted to the beach, our sneakers sloshing in the cool water as we took to the sky. We were just a couple feet over the water, and our longest feathers brushed the surface, making ripples in the calm ocean. Angel dropped her arm down, giggling as her fingertips skimmed across the surface.

It was still only like, seven in the morning, and there was a thin layer of misty fog on the surface of the ocean. It was cool, moist and refreshing, like an iced coffee. I did a few barrel rolls, basking in the peace and quiet while I could. I was so serine, so calm so-

"Boat!" Dylan shouted. I looked to where he was pointing. Yep, that was a boat. A little fishing boat. We pulled up, way up, about 200 feet. With the mist, we were nothing but a flock of seagulls to the fishermen. We coasted past them, adding just another detail to our seagull impersonation. Once the boat was clear out of sight, we dived back down, until we were about ten feet from the surface of the water.

"If we went underwater, would we still be able to fly? Or would our wings be too wet?" I asked, mostly directing the question at Max.

"Nope, you could still fly." She told me.

"Cool." I smiled, plugging my nose, squeezing my eyes shut, and pulling in my wings. I dropped like a rock, plunging into the freezing water. I resurfaced after dropping as far as I could without moving, wiping my eyes and wringing out my hair. Nudge smiled, and she too plummeted into the water. Then came Gazzy, then Iggy, until the whole flock was bobbing in the water.

"Oh, God, ew. I hate having gills." Max made a face of disgust, covering her gills with her hands.

"Come on, Max. Everyone's got 'em." Fang smirked his sexy little smirk, three thin slits visible on his neck. He gestured to Angel, Dylan and I. Wait, what? I ran my hand over my neck. Sure enough, there were three slits on each side. Since when?

"Yeah, I wish I had gills! Then I could spend the whole day in the water! There's this girl who can swim really deep underwater for a really long time, so she made herself a mermaid tail! Wouldn't that be-" We didn't get to hear the rest of Nudge's speech, because Iggy had pushed down on the top of her head, dunking her under. He let go a few seconds later, and Nudge resurfaced, sputtering and gasping for air. "So uncool, Ig." She glowered at him.

"I'm freezing. I'm outta here!" Gazzy shivered, launching himself back into the sky. His wings dripped cold water on the rest of us.

"Yeah, freezing to death doesn't sound like a lot of fun." Iggy said, and he too took to the sky. Nudge followed him.

"Yeah, we don't want to get eaten by sharks." I said sarcastically, and the gilled members of the flock shot back up to join the others. Note to self; don't go swimming and then fly immediately afterwards. You will freeze.

We flew in silence for a long time, the sounds of the sea making me want to sleep. Seagulls crying, waves roaring, the occasional splash from something jumping out of the water… it was so peaceful. Well, it _was_, until a really freaking loud foghorn sounded off a ship somewhere and scared the bejeezus out of me.

"God!" I choked out, placing my hand over my heart. I heard Fang snicker. I stuck out my lip and narrowed my eyes at him. He stopped and abruptly looked away. _Yeah, mess with me, buddy,_ I thought.

"Quelle heure est t-il?" Angel asked Dylan. Where did she learn French? My French vocabulary ended at 'Bonjour'. He checked his watch that we stole from some store in Tennessee or somewhere like that.

"Trois heures, dix minutes." He replied, also in French. Was I the only one who missed the bilingual injection, or what? Apparently not, since the rest of the flock just stared at him. "Ten past three. None of you know French?" He asked rhetorically, clearly surprised.

"No…" I shook my head slowly. He shrugged.

"Tu es tres foule, non?" He smirked. Okay, now he was just showing off.

"He just called you dumb, you know." Angel muttered. I glared at him intensely, trying as hard as I could to burn a hole in the back of his head. That jerk.

"Next time a cruise ship passes, can we see if we can land on it? My shoulders are numb." Gazzy complained. Max sighed.

"Okay. Fine." She ran her fingers through her still damp hair. Gazzy dramatically sighed in relief.

"There's a tiny boat at one o'clock. It's about two miles away." I said, using my HD zoom vision to scout one out. Dylan squinted, looking in the direction I decribed.

"Yeah, I see it. The… Wendy K.?" Dylan read the writing at the side of the boat. I nodded in agreement. Everyone's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, even Fang's. What the…

"Uh… Max?" Iggy said, his face matching the rest of the flock's alarmed expressions.

"I know." She said blankly, wide-eyed.

"It couldn't be the same one, could it?" Gazzy asked. Dylan and I exchanged glances. What were they on about?

"What? The same one what?" I demanded. I hated not knowing stuff.

"About a year and a half ago, we went on this rescue mission in Antarctica. That's the name of the boat we travelled on." Max explained. Dylan and I looked at each other. It was weird- neither of us were even _alive_ a year and a half ago.

"It couldn't be the same one, could it?" Nudge asked excitedly.

"It's like, an expedition boat, so by what you guys say I would assume so." I squinted, trying to get a better look at the boat.

"Oh, God. You know what would be weird? If it had the same _crew_." Nudge said. We all looked at each other, and jetted off toward the boat in unison. I don't know what Dyl and I were all excited about, but I just felt like this was on purpose, somehow. I didn't know why, but I guess I was going to find out.

A/N: Dun-Dun-DUNN! For once, I actually know what I'm going to do with this plot line! Yay for me! Sorry it took so long to update, my laptop was funky. It's all better now, so chapter 10 will be out soon! R&R!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Helloooo… fancy meeting you here. Okay, so have you ever written something that you thought was God's gift at first and you were like, "Oh, my Jesus! I'm a freaking genius!" And then you reread it, oh I don't know, two years, four months and twenty-four days later and think to yourself "Wow, what in the name of Christ on a bike was I thinking? This sucks!"? Yeah, I just did that.

As we flew closer to the Wendy K., I saw Max's face distort itself into an expression of pure shock. I guess it was the same boat after all.

"Max!" Angel gasped. Max snapped her head backwards to face Angel. "I can hear thoughts. Someone's thinking about Brigid. You remember her, right?" Brigid? Never heard of her before.

"I'm sure Fang does." Max muttered bitterly. Fang sighed in exasperation, as if he had explained something a million times and was giving up.

"Let it go." Fang said in a barely audible voice. I wonder what that was all about. I'd probably ask Iggy later. He loves making people get in fights. It's one of the little joys in life.

"Guys. She's there. So is Dr. Papa." Angel said seriously. Dylan and I burst into hysterical laughter.

"Dr. _what_?" I cackled, a cramp forming in my side from laughing so hard.

"What kind of name is that?" Dylan laughed in agreement. I guess the hilarity of the name had already worn off on the rest of the flock, because they were just staring blankly at us. Even Iggy was looking in out general direction.

"You really are insane, you know that?" Max said coolly, cocking one eyebrow.

"Sorry. Who exactly are these people?" I asked, getting over the hilarious name for now.

"Dr. Papa" I tried to hold back laughter. "is this really cool scientist guy- one of the only ones I relatively like. Brigid- well, Fang can tell you _all_ about her." Max smiled in that sweet I'm-going-to-gently-rip-your-spine-out-now way she does when she's mad at Fang. He rolled his eyes.

As we flew toward the boat- we were now about a mile away- I held back to talk to Fang.

"So, what's up with Max?" I asked. He exhaled loudly. I hope I didn't awaken the sleeping dragon that is an angry Fang.

"I got too close to Brigid for Max's comfort, and she won't let it go." Fang explained. Oh. Gotcha.

"And where you two like…" I left the rest unsaid, as Fang probably knew that question was next, anyways.

"Me and Brigid? Oh, God, no!" He protested. "She's like, ten years older than me." He elaborated.

"So Max is holding a grudge because…?" I said, pointing my thumb in Max's direction.

"I 'unno" He shrugged. Wow. What a long and detailed sentence. I am thoroughly shocked. _Not._ We sped up a bit to catch up with the rest of the flock.

"So, should we land and get ourselves in more danger than we already are, or keep going and potentially miss a huge detail in this whole Itex problem?" Max asked rhetorically. We all looked at each other and wordlessly began dropping toward the deck of the ship.

"Miss us?" Max asked as we touched down, welcomed by about three wide-eyed whitecoats.

"Oh, my… Max?" One whitecoat asked.

"Hey, Dr. Papa. What's shaking? Why are you out in the middle of the Atlantic?" Max smiled, shaking his hand. I guess this was Dr. Papa, then.

"We're going back to the US… what're _you_ doing here?" The doctor asked, ushering us inside the boat.

"Going to Europe." Max was a master of not letting people know more than they needed to. "Or, at least, trying to."

"We'll take you there, if you want. An extra few days is nothing, if you want a ride." Dr. Papa (what a name) smiled.

"Really? That'd be awesome! Thanks so much!" Max grinned broadly. I guess we were going to be stuck on this crap-wagon for a few days. Oh, well. The people seemed nice enough.

"Sure thing. Brigid! Wait 'til you see this!" The doctor called down a really short flight of stairs- like, five steps kind of short. Fang looked like a deer in headlights. I guess he wanted to avoid her.

"What is it, Dr.- Max? Is that you?" She asked. She was really pretty- she had longish red hair, and she was really thin.

"In the flesh." Max said unenthusiastically.

"And the flock! Great to see you all again!" Brigid squealed in delight, her eyes lingering on Fang. He subtly grabbed my hand, and I could tell he was hoping she'd see. "Who's this?" She smiled in a way that reminded me of that evil teacher lady from Harry Potter number 5.

"Oh, that's Fiorela. She's… new." Max said for lack of a better word. Yeah, new as in a few months old. "So is Dylan. It's a really long story." Max was very good at pretending to like people she hated.

"I've got time! Please, come sit!" Brigid smiled a movie star smile, waving us down the stairs. Usually, the flock was sceptical when people wanted them to go somewhere, but they followed her without a problem. I guess they trust these people.

We sat in what I guess was the makeshift lounge. It consisted of a couple of couches and some beanbag chairs. Fang and I sat down beside each other on the couch, still holding hands. Angel sat on the other side of Fang. Iggy, Max and Nudge took the other couch. Gaz and Dylan sat on two of the four beanbags. Brigid took one, too.

"So, um… I don't know. Fee, you talk." Max stammered. Why did she always leave things up to_ me_ when she panicked?

"Well, Dylan was made in a lab up in… Ontario, I think. He went with this crazy guy named Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen and was handed over to the flock, basically. He's Max's... uh… perfect other half. He was literally made for her, so they could… um… make an heir… to the world, pretty much." I said uncomfortably. I imagine that lovely experience would be much like one where you had to talk about the facts of life. Well, these are the bird kid facts of life.

"Oh, I see." Brigid said in a surprised tone. Her overenthusiastic attitude reminded me of a cheerleader. "And what about you?" She asked, clearly really interested in our situation. Great. Now I have to explain my part, which is much more embarrassing.

"Oh, well, um… a few months after Dylan, they made me in the same lab. It's because Fang was um… a setback, I guess, In Dylan's mission, so I had to be made to… distract him, kind of. So now we're supposed to uh… _procreate_ and give Max and Dylan's… kid a right-hand man. But we don't want to do that kind of thing, so…yeah." I felt my face redden. Fang shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I don't blame him. The room was awkwardly silent.

"Well, that's um… quite the situation you've got yourselves into." Brigid said. She looked glumly at Fang. Oh, God, _ew_. She had a _crush_ on _Fang_? She could be like, his _babysitter_. That's just weird.

"Yep." Max nodded slowly and awkwardly.

"Okay, well, make yourselves at home! I've got to go help Dr. Papa. I guess I'll talk to you later." She smiled sweetly, getting up to leave. Yeah, sure as my aunt Bessie she had to go help Dr. Papa. She probably wanted to escape the awkwardness.

"Well, that went well." Iggy said after a long silence. Max swatted him on the arm. Poor Iggy. He never knew how poorly timed the things he said were until after the fact.

"So, I guess we chill here, then." Max said, getting to her feet and stretching out her arms. She headed down a small hallway. Clearly, she still remembered her way around the ship.

"Well, we're out." I said, tightening my grip on Fang's hand and heading after Max. I ducked into a random bunk.

"Dude!" I shouted after I shut the door, slapping him on the arm.

"What?" He said, not knowing what he did wrong. Oh, right. Step 1: explain. Step 2: slap. Right, I forgot that.

"She's totally loves you! Why didn't you tell me?" I said as he calmly sat on one of the bottom bunks.

"What was I supposed to say?" He asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.

"I don't know- you just told me Max was jealous, not that you had an adult woman lusting over you!" I shouted. God, boys are dumb.

"She is _not_ lusting over me!" He said 'lusting' as if it was equivalent to the inside of a nostril or something along those lines. And here I was thinking Iggy was the blind one.

"Yeah, she kind of is! Trust me Fang, I speak girl." I said, daring him to contradict me again.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" He asked. Ugh. I hate it when he's smarter than me.

"I don't know." I forfeited, sitting beside him on the bed. "I'm sorry. I'm designed to get all pissed off about that kind of stuff. I can't help it." I sighed, not wanting to look him in the eye.

Just as I thought he was going to say something sarcastic, he placed his thumb under my chin and raised it, smiled for a second, and kissed me. I felt like I was going to explode. I put my arms around his neck, kissing him harder. He put his calloused hands across my back, pulling me closer to him. He gently started to pull me on top of him to a point where I was sort of laying on him and he was slouched against the back wall. Just at that moment, the door swung open. Fang and I both snapped our heads up.

"Fang, dinner's-" Gazzy started, stopping when he saw us. "Ooookaaayy…" He raised his eyebrows, turned on his heals and walked out. But not before sticking Fang a thumbs up. Oh, God. What was Iggy _teaching_ that boy?

"We should probably go…" I said, collecting myself off Fang and straightening out my clothes. He got up too, following me out the door. Well, _that_ was awkward.

You could practically _smell_ the awkwardness as we headed up the stairs and into the dining room. Gazzy followed us with his eyes as we took our seats beside each other. He sniggered a bit as we walked past. Fang was totally chill; walking past like he had no idea what Gazzy was on about. I wish I could say the same for me.

"Why so quiet?" Max said, cocking one eyebrow sarcastically as we sat down, not talking for about five minutes.

"I dunno. Nothing to talk about." I shrugged, hoping that terrible lie would work. It did, because Max shrugged and continued to eat her dinner, which consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes and peas.

Once we had finished dinner, we went back into our lounge-type room, which we were given free reign of. Dr. Papa had told us to hang out in there, until he came to 'give us something to chew on'. Dylan had to explain to Gazzy that we were not, in fact, getting more food, and that that was just an expression.

"Hey, guys." Dr. Papa and Brigid came down the small steps and into the room. We all perked our ears, metaphorically, of course. To my annoyance, Brigid sat down right next to Fang. Not to be protective, but her leg was just a little bit too close to his. Well, I'd fix that. I got up and sat on his lap, putting my arm across his shoulders and giving Brigid a sweet little smirk. Ha. Take that. Fang high-fived me on the side opposite to Brigid, so she couldn't see.

"So, we have a proposition for you guys." Dr. Papa said after giving me a weird look. "We know that you need to be hidden. But I also understand that you want to have a place to call home. So, Brigid and I would like to know if you would like to stay on the Wendy K. with us." Well, I can guarantee that none of us saw that coming.

"That way, you can stay on the move, and sleep in the same bed every night!" Brigid said enthusiastically. Okay, I officially hate her.

"Okay, flock meeting!" Max threw her right hand up in the air. She led us down the corridor and into the same room Fang and I had been making out in before. Gazzy elbowed my arm. That little pig. We spread ourselves out around the room. "What're we going to do?"

"It's a really good deal, Max. It's the best of both worlds. We should do it." Angel said all creepily. Oh, not this again.

"Okay. Let's put it to a vote. All in favour of staying?" Max said. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Dylan and I all raised our hands. Max sighed and rolled her eyes, raising her hand, too.

"It's anonymous." Gazzy said.

"Unanimous." Dylan corrected him.

"Right. So we can stay?" Gazzy looked up at Max with big, pleading eyes.

"Yeah, okay." Max sighed, running her fingers through her hair. The flock cheered, and Fang looked the Fang version of surprised, which was practically the same as mad, disappointed, ecstatic, sad and God knows what else.

We filed down the hall, where we found a too-happy Dr. Papa and (ugh) Brigid. Brigid cocked one eyebrow, waiting for our reply. Max nodded once. Subtle. Brigid squealed like a teenager at a shoe sale and jumped up and down. What an idiot.

"Yay. Months more of _that_." I muttered into Fang's ear. He smirked.

"That's great to hear. We'll need to stop every month or so, to pick up food and what not. But I can keep your whereabouts in complete secrecy." Dr. Papa said. He uses big words.

"Cool." Max smiled.

"Alright, then. We'll leave you to sort yourselves out." The doctor said, guiding Brigid up the stairs. My blood boiled as she turned and winked at Fang. She _winked_ at him. Oh, _snap_! I started after her, shaking Fang off as he tried to stop me. He didn't get it. Fang is my _purpose_. That's like going up to Chuck Norris and telling him you're a better fighter than him. She just entered a whole new level of the rage of Fiorela.

A/N: Long enough chapter for you? Sorry it took so long, I was at theatre camp for the past couple weeks. Thanks for the patience! R&R please!


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